
Search News You Can Use - SEO Podcast with Marie Haynes
Search News You Can Use is Marie Haynes' Weekly Podcast where she provides useful advice on Google Algorithm updates, tips and information to help you improve your website. During the podcast she breaks down the most interesting and important changes that have happened in SEO and the world of search!
Latest episodes

Feb 3, 2022 • 48min
Lily Ray & Marie Discuss Google’s Biggest Winners/Losers, Product Reviews, Title Tag Rewrites & More
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

Jan 20, 2022 • 37min
What is Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) and does it matter to SEOs?
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

Jan 6, 2022 • 34min
SEO Strategies to Focus on in 2022
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

Dec 23, 2021 • 33min
2021 Year End Recap, Google's Product Reviews Update and the Vicinity Local Search Update
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

Dec 9, 2021 • 37min
Investigating Google’s November Core and December Product Reviews Algorithm Updates
The podcast is back! In this episode Marie digs into what she is seeing in the wake up the November core and the December product reviews updates. She shares specific examples of the types of content that is performing well from her own website as well as discusses what others in the industry are seeing.
This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 213:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-213-light-version/
Links mentioned in this episode:
Google’s November core update announcement
https://twitter.com/googlesearchc/status/1460970568128385031
Google’s blog post on what webmasters need to know about core updates
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
Google’s December product reviews announcement
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/12/product-reviews-update-and-your-site
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/
Quality Raters Book
https://www.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

Jun 17, 2021 • 32min
Details on Google’s June Core Update, Page Experience Update and SEO Q&A - Ep. 188
In this episode Marie discusses what SEO experts are saying about the June 2021 core update and a little about the page experience update as well. She shares specific examples of the types of content that performed well with this update and quotes from the Quality Raters Guidelines that help explain those changes.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Google’s blog post on what webmasters need to know about core updates
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
MHC’s advice on E-A-T
https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/eat/
Marie’s article on Needs Met and Understanding User Intent
https://www.mariehaynes.com/understanding-user-intent/
Mordy Oberstein’s Twitter thread analysing needs met
https://twitter.com/mordyoberstein/status/1396807728467697666?s=21
Lily Ray’s article on the update
https://www.amsivedigital.com/insights/seo/winners-and-losers-of-googles-june-2021-core-update/
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/
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/
Quality Raters Book
https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 188:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-188-light-version/
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

Jun 3, 2021 • 34min
June 2021 Core Algorithm Update Announced, Discussing Needs Met and More SEO News - Ep. 186
Google has just announced a core update is live! In this episode Marie shares what we know so far about the June 2021 core update, and also the pre-announced July core update. She discusses how Needs Met is described in the Quality Raters Guidelines and how we can advise clients on creating content that fully meets the needs of searchers.
Google’s blog post on what webmasters need to know about core updates
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
MHC’s advice on E-A-T
https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/eat/
Marie’s article on Needs Met and Understanding User Intent
https://www.mariehaynes.com/understanding-user-intent/
Register for SMX Advanced (June 15-16, 2021)
https://attend.marketinglandevents.com/smx-advanced-2021/
- Marie’s talk is: Understanding E-A-T and Quality Raters Guidelines to produce content Google wants to rank, followed by a 30 minute live
Q&A
Past 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/
Quality Raters Book
https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 186:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-186-light-version/
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

May 27, 2021 • 28min
Significant Algorithmic Turbulence, Meeting Users Expectations and More SEO News - Ep. 185
Links mentioned in this episode:
What the Quality Raters’ Guidelines say about scientific consensus
https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/scientific-consensus/
MHC’s White-paper with practical advice to help sites better align with scientific consensus in Google’s eyes
https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/scientific-consensus-whitepaper/
MHC’s advice on E-A-T
https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/eat/
Marie’s article on Needs Met and Understanding User Intent
https://www.mariehaynes.com/understanding-user-intent/
Register for SMX Advanced (June 15-16, 2021) - Marie’s talk is: Understanding E-A-T and Quality Raters Guidelines to produce content Google wants to rank, followed by a 30 minute live Q&A
Past episodes
SNYCU 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/
Quality Raters Book
https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 185:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-185-light-version/
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

May 20, 2021 • 21min
Google’s New AI Tool MUM (Multitask Unified Model), Google I/O and More SEO News - Ep. 184
In this episode, Marie shares her thoughts on Google’s most recent improvements to their algorithms, including the recent news out of Google I/O on MUM, an advancement that will make Google’s algorithms even better at understanding queries and content.
In this episode:
SERP turbulence seen May 13-15
More on Google’s blog post on core updates
Info on improving E-A-T based on this blog post.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Google’s blog post on core updates
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
Google’s announcement on MUM
https://blog.google/products/search/introducing-mum/
MHC’s recent article with disavowing advice for 2021
https://www.mariehaynes.com/disavow-advice-2021/
Register for SMX Advanced - Marie will be speaking virtually on the
QRG, E-A-T and Google algorithm updates along with a 30 minute live Q&A
https://attend.marketinglandevents.com/smx-advanced-2021/
SNYCU 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/
Quality Raters Book
https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 184:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-184-light-version/
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

May 13, 2021 • 53min
Unnatural Links, Manual Actions and Using the Disavow Tool in 2021 - Ep.183
Starting at the 11 minute mark, Marie dives deep into how MHC views the disavow tool, manual actions and backlink quality in 2021.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Unnatural Links – A guide to recovery (2020 version)
https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book/
Hire an MHC link auditor to review your backlink profile:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/services/link-audits/
This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 183:
https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-183-light-version/
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
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