SERP's Up SEO Podcast

Is eCommerce SEO really a separate discipline? If so, how does it differ from “regular SEO?” Yes, no, maybe? The answer may surprise you. In this episode of the SERP’s Up SEO Podcast Wix’s Head of SEO Branding, Mordy Oberstein, and Head of SEO Communications, Crystal Carter, dive into all things eCommerce SEO. Over the past few years, Google has gotten better and better at delivering custom SERP features for eCommerce, with new elements being released and tested on a consistent basis. These features alone are differential factors between eCommerce SEO and regular website SEO. Navigating the requirements of these features is a skill on its own.  We’ll dive into some of the latest eCommerce changes to the SERP and what they mean for your SEO strategy and outlook. Kristina Azarenko of MarketingSyrup SEO Academy stops by to explore the importance of internal linking and possible permutations for eCommerce SEO.  This and more as you “check out” the latest episode of the SERP’s Up SEO Podcast! Key Segments:  [00:02:20] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up?  [00:05:05] Focus Topic of the Week: Ecommerce SEO. . . Cha-ching!  [00:15:38] Focus Topic Guest: Kristina Azarenko [00:28:17] Snappy News [00:32:42] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein  Kristina Azarenko: https://twitter.com/azarchick Luke Carthy: https://twitter.com/MrLukeCarthy Tory Gray of Gray Dot Company: https://thegray.company/team Resources:  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn  Marketing Syrup: https://marketingsyrup.com/ News:  Google Gives Official Names Of Some Search Features With Visual Elements Gallery: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-visual-elements-gallery-34568.html  Google December 2022 Link Spam Update Rolling Out Now: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-december-2022-link-spam-update/474233/ E-E-A-T and major updates to Google’s quality rater guidelines: https://searchengineland.com/google-search-quality-rater-guidelines-changes-december-2022-390350 

What’s true and what’s not about content duplication and SEO?  Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, and Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communication at Wix, discuss duplicate content truths, legends, and falsehoods on this episode of the SERPs Up SEO Podcast. Unbeknownst to many, there is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty. Google is more likely to just not index duplicate content rather than punish an entire website. It’s pretty common for large websites to have duplicate or near duplicate content. In addition, many websites, especially news websites, syndicate their content to other domains. With proper attribution, Google can recognize the syndication and potentially serve up both without relying on a no-index.  Listen in as the duo dispel these content duplication myths and more!  Barry Adams of Polemic Digital stops by to share when to worry and when not to worry about duplicate content from an SEO point of view.  Plus, Wix’s own Rebecca Tomasis shares how she approaches dealing with duplicate content on the Wix Blog! Can you hear that echo, echo, echo on the SERPs Up SEO Podcast? Let’s explore duplicate content and SEO together! Key Segments: [00:02:16] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:03:06] Focus Topic of the Week: Duplicate Content   [00:14:54] Focus Topic Guest: Barry Adams [00:21:01] Across the Wixverse: Rebecca Tomasses [00:31:10] Snappy News [00:34:17] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Barry Adams: https://twitter.com/badams Rebecca Tomasis: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-t-8815b692/ Patrick Stox: https://twitter.com/patrickstox Resources:  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn  Demystifying the "duplicate content" penalty: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2008/09/demystifying-duplicate-content-penalty Polemic Digital: https://www.polemicdigital.com/  SEO for Google News: https://www.seoforgooglenews.com/ Canonicalization and why it matters: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/canonicalization  Wix Blog: https://www.wix.com/blog  News:  Google’s Desktop Search Results Are Now Continuously Scrollable: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-desktop-search-results-are-now-continuously-scrollable/473217/ Google Launches +Topic Search Bar Refinements After Several Months Of Testing: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-topic-search-bar-refinements-34517.html  Google helpful content system update rolling out now (December 2022 update): https://searchengineland.com/google-helpful-content-system-update-rolling-out-n

SEO shouldn’t be siloed. Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, and Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communication at Wix, discuss how SEOs should think about social media teams, branding, and other marketing channels.  Organic Search is just one channel to bring traffic and revenue to a website. What works for one channel may or may not work on another, but you’ll never know if you don’t communicate with the rest of the marketing team. Your website should be considered the HQ for all digital activities, and its user experience should be consistent no matter the channel a user arrives from. As a result, SEO, social media, PPC, etc., should align with consistent messaging, content, and imagery. Depending on the size of your organization and how many hats you have to wear as a marketer, prioritization can be critical, according to iPullRank’s Garrett Sussman, featured guest on the SERP's Up SEO Podcast. SEO may take six to 12 months to move the revenue needle, while PPC or social may be doing it today. Prioritize based on what’s driving revenue now while making time investments in other tactics for the future. Knowing your audience is crucial when it comes to an omnichannel approach to marketing. A good way to understand who your audience is online is by using tools like SparkToro. With it, you can not only identify your audience but discover where they’re at and what they like. We’ll dive into how you can use the tool to fuel all of your marketing efforts from SEO to social!  Let’s ride the wave of the SERPs Up SEO podcast and explore omnichannel marketing! Key Segments: [00:01:51] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:02:13] Focus Topic of the Week: Omni-channel Approach to SEO [00:16:05] Focus Topic Guest: Garrett Sussman [00:21:06] Tool Time [00:24:56] Snappy News [00:26:46] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein  Garrett Sussman: https://twitter.com/garrettsussman iPullRank: https://ipullrank.com Amanda Natividad: https://twitter.com/amandana t  Joy Hawkins: https://twitter.com/JoyanneHawkins Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn  Blog Distribution Strategies for Growth: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/webinar-content-distribution More intents more problems: SEO for multiple user intents: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast/episodes/seo-for-multiple-user-intents Sparktoro: https://sparktoro.com  What Kind of Content Appears in Google Discover [Case Study]: https://www.semrush.com/blog/google-discover-result-study  News:  Google Improved The Search Console Discover Performance Report: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-discover-performance-reports-improved-34504.html  Does the Length of a Google Review Matter?: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/length-google-review-matter/ 

People trust other people. Study after study has shown that people trust the content in reviews over what the brand says. That’s why Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, and Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communication at Wix, discuss the importance of encouraging user-generated reviews and their role in SEO. When talking about reviews for SEO, the focus is on user-generated reviews. This podcast investigates why getting reviews is crucial and how it impacts your organic visibility. From how reviews might affect ranking in the Local Pack to where reviews appear across the Google SERP and throughout the Google ecosystem, this podcast episode gives you a comprehensive understanding of the role reviews play in organic search.  Get actionable advice from Claire Carlile of BrightLocal to encourage user-generated reviews and learn what marketers and business owners can and should be doing with them. It’s time to generate some understanding around user-generated reviews today on the SERP’s Up SEO Podcast! Key Segments: [00:02:02] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:03:08] Focus Topic of the Week: Local SEO and Reviews [00:13:49] Focus Topic Guest: Claire Carlile [00:20:06} Deep Thoughts [00:28:09] Snappy News [00:30:33] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein  Claire Carlile: https://twitter.com/clairecarlile BrightLocal: https://www.brightlocal.com/home-a/  Rebecca Berbel: https://twitter.com/RebBerbel OnCrawl: https://www.oncrawl.com/ Darren Shaw: https://twitter.com/DarrenShaw_ WhiteSpark: https://whitespark.ca/ Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn How Much Does Review Recency Impact Google Local Pack Rankings [Case Study]: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/google-review-recency-ranking/ How Google reviews can transform your business: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/why-google-reviews-are-important-local-business More intents more problems: SEO for multiple user intents: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast/episodes/seo-for-multiple-user-intents News:  Google Documents Search Ranking Updates As Systems; Labels Live Or Archived Notable Algorithms: https://www.seroundtable.com/google-update-systems-ranking-noted-34451.html A guide to Google Search ranking systems: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide

Whether they be clients, C-level executives or marketing managers, there’s a slew of both external and internal stakeholders who rely on your SEO information. Good SEO reporting puts them in the game with you. It’s what gets buy-in and what proves the value of your work. After all, it's a lot easier to get a designer, developer, or another stakeholder to align with your SEO recommendations if they know that organic search drives revenue for the business. Reporting can be labor-intensive and cumbersome if you don’t know what to report on, to whom to report, and which datasets are most important to focus on. That’s why Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, and Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communication at Wix, discuss the critical nature of SEO reporting in today’s modern marketing and SEO departments. Joe Hall, SEO Consultant & Principal Analyst at Hall Analysis, shares his 3-pillared framework for choosing which SEO KPIs to report on: communication KPIs, strategic KPIs, and business KPIs. He explains that reporting should educate, inform, and align with key business objectives. We’re talking all things SEO reporting today on the SERP’s Up SEO Podcast! Key Segments: [00:02:22] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:03:14] Focus Topic of the Week: SEO Reporting [00:17:25] Focus Topic Guest: Joe Hall [00:22:45} Front the Top of the SERP [00:29:52] Snappy News [00:32:403] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Joe Hall: https://twitter.com/joehall  Christina Levasseur: https://twitter.com/cbrodzky  Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn Hall Analysis: https://hallanalysis.com/  SEO Reporting Dashboard Templates: https://www.mediasesh.com/tools/  News:  Google’s New Local Search Features Are Finally Here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-new-local-search-features-are-finally-here/471663

Do you have the need, the need for speed?! Today we're talking about performance (also known as How Fast is this Website?) and what it means for your rankings on Google. So, how big of a deal is performance for SEO, anyway?  Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, and Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communication at Wix, do a deep dive discussing the importance of Core Web Vitals and site performance metrics in SEO today.  There’s a lot of conflicting information about the role of performance in SEO. How do you reconcile Google’s own statements about “site speed” along with data from the industry’s tool providers on the impact of Core Web Vitals? Listen in as we parse it all for you so that you have a truer understanding of the role of Core Web Vitals in rankings and beyond.  Annie Sullivan, Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google, shares the main steps towards improving Core Web Vitals: measure, analyze, optimize and repeat. Hear Annie’s take on identifying bottlenecks that could be impacting the website's performance.  Catch up with Alon Kochba, Head of Web Performance at Wix, who discusses how the team helped improve performance across the entire Wix platform. It’s the everything speed and performance episode of the SERP’s Up SEO Podcast! Key Segments: [00:02:40] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:05:30] Focus Topic of the Week: Performance / Core Web Vitals [00:16:13] Focus Topic Guest: Annie Sullivan [00:21:47] Inside the WixVerse [00:34:54] Snappy News [00:38:20] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Annie Sullivan: https://twitter.com/anniesullie Alon Kochba: https://twitter.com/alonkochba Dan Shappir: https://twitter.com/DanShappir Jamie Indigo: https://twitter.com/Jammer_Volts Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn Advanced Core Web Vitals: A Technical SEO Guide: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/technical-seo-core-web-vitals-guide/402501/ Wix Performance: https://www.wix.com/performance  News: More From Google On AI Content - It's About If The Content Is Helpful: https://www.seroundtable.com/more-from-google-on-ai-content-34372.html

If they measure it, it matters. The SERP’s Up team dive into the One SEO Tool to Rule Them All:  Google Search Console.  This free Google tool is, by far, the most important tool for site owners to understand how Google values their sites.  Mordy Oberstein and Crystal Carter, heads of SEO Branding and SEO Communication at Wix, share their love of Google Search Console and unpack the importance of the platform. Google Search Console gives a wealth of information about your site: from page indexing to Google’s crawl frequency, the impressions that specific pages receive, and most importantly, what issues Google seems to be having with a website. This is the main conduit of communication from Google to the site owner, and trust us - if they measure something in there, it matters.  SEOs should pay attention to Video Pages (hint, hint - get them going if you haven’t), Page Experience stats, mobile usability, and more.  The team catches up with Lazarina Stoy, data scientist, and SEO, who shares one of her favorite features of GSC, the Links report, which can help troubleshoot internal linking strategies and improper use of anchor text. In short, this is the SEO podcast to better understand the role and value of Google Search Console!  Key Segments [00:04:22] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:05:15] Focus Topic of the Week: Google Search Console [00:19:29] Focus Topic Guest: Lazarina Stoy [00:24:11] Tool Time [00:29:24] Snappy News [00:32:13] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Lazarina Stoy: https://twitter.com/lazarinastoy Daniel Waisberg: https://twitter.com/danielwaisberg Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn Google Search Console: https://search.google.com/search-console/about Optimizing your website performance with Search Console: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/gsc-webinar How to Automate The URL Inspection API: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/how-to-automate-the-url-inspection-api/ Get to know the Wix Site Inspection tool: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/wix-site-inspection-tool Search Console Data Template: https://datastudio.google.com/embed/reporting/015008f1-9f50-42b1-b8e8-6ddfd81ccc10/page/ig7kC Are links everything SEOs make them out to be?: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast/episodes/are-links-everything-seos-make-them-out-to-be  News: Google Introduces New Search Labels For Coupons & Promos: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-introduces-new-search-labels-for-coupons-promos/469828/

Change. It's the one constant in life…and Google. What we relied on back years ago on the SERP (10 Blue Links) is a distant memory as search engines have added features to match the customer’s intent and journey. Wix’s Head of SEO Branding, Mordy Oberstein, and Head of SEO Communications, Crystal Carter, tackle the challenges and opportunities of SERP features with Kevin Indig, creator of the Growth Memo newsletter and host of the Tech Bound podcast. Jump in as we look at the SERP and all of the boxes and rectangles and squares and expandable carousels, tabs, and more. Learn what Google’s SERP features say about users and Google itself… and how you can leverage them tactically and strategically. The team also has Fun with People Also Asked again this week with a case that shows maybe you shouldn’t tie all your content to the questions inside of the PAA box! Key Segments: [00:01:29] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:05:00] Focus Topic of the Week: SERP Features & Kevin Indig [00:25:14] Fun with People Also Ask [00:33:27] Snappy News [00:37:59] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Kevin Indig: https://twitter.com/Kevin_Indig  Dr. Pete Meyers: https://twitter.com/dr_pete  Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn Programmatic content expansion with Python and Velo: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/programmatic-content-expansion-python-velo Growth Memo: https://www.kevin-indig.com/tag/gm/ News: Zero-Clicks Study: https://www.semrush.com/blog/zero-clicks-study/

Have we grown past the pursuit of the almighty link above every other SEO tactic? Certainly, since Google released the Penguin update in 2012, addressing link farms and other issues associated with people gaming the system, the idea of getting as many links as you can is not the path toward ranking.  But still, links are still a factor. So where do links legitimately fit into a solid SEO strategy?   Wix’s Head of SEO Branding, Mordy Oberstein, and Head of SEO Communications, Crystal Carter, carve up the links and their role in SEO like the Halloween Jack-o-lantern.  There’s a shift of mindset that has to occur in SEO. Both Mordy and Crystal agree that there is an over-emphasis on links for SEO. To them, links are fundamentally about traffic and helping users. Creating quality content that makes sense to link to is fundamental and earns market credibility, not “link juice.” Still, establishing quality links is integral to a well-built SEO campaign. The right links from the right sites pointing to the right pages can impact how well you rank. Which is why Debbie Chew, SEO Manager at Dialpad, shares her three best key link-building tactics, from personalized outreach to stats posts to research reports. Key Segments: [00:02:14] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:03:08] Episode 10 of the SERP's Up Podcast! [00:03:41] Focus Topic of the Week: Links [00:15:22] Focus Topic Guest: Debbie Chew  [00:21:21] The Top of the SERP [00:28:44] Snappy News [00:31:04] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Debbie Chew: https://twitter.com/justdebbb  Judith Lewis: https://twitter.com/JudithLewis Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Link Building Tactics that Actually Work: https://debbieychew.com/blog/link-building-tactics/ Link Building Myths for SMBs: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/link-building-myths-smbs  Internal Link Study by Cyrus Shepard: https://zyppy.com/seo/internal-links/seo-study/ News: Google releases October 2022 spam update: https://searchengineland.com/google-releases-october-2022-spam-update-388880  Google Shopping Searches On Desktop Get More Visual: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-shopping-searches-on-desktop-get-more-visual/468434/

Is AI writing for long-form web content the right way to go? We don’t think so. Actually, if you’re not careful, it may illicit action from Google. Wix’s Head of SEO Branding, Mordy Oberstein, and Head of SEO Communications, Crystal Carter, address the growing use of artificial intelligence in content writing for the web in light of the most recent Google algorithm changes regarding helpful content. Is AI written content really good content? It certainly isn’t differentiated and doesn’t have critical thought. Even if the AI content ranks well, what are you delivering to your audience? You don’t often hear the cheers for generic, mediocre content. Let alone the one thought: Whose content is it, really? Who’s the author? Danny Richman, the founder of Richman SEO Training, clarifies where AI writers can be a legitimate help: classification, transformation, and translation. A key use for GPT3 is for keyword classification, done in seconds! Remember: AI-written content for rank manipulation is against Google's guidelines. To quote Mordy, “with the Helpful Content Update, which, to me, is Google saying, “We know AI written content is coming, It's already here. We need to develop an algorithm that's able to find it and weed it out“. [00:02:05] What's On This Episode of SERP's Up? [00:04:39] Focus Topic of the Week: AI Writers Content and Google [00:15:45] Focus Topic Guest: Danny Richman  [00:21:23] Is This New? [00:27:03] Snappy News [00:29:17] Follow of the Week Hosts, Guests, & Featured People: Crystal Carter: https://twitter.com/CrystalontheWeb Mordy Oberstein: https://twitter.com/MordyOberstein Danny Richman: https://twitter.com/DannyRichman Ann Smarty: https://twitter.com/seosmarty Resources: SERP's Up Podcast: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast  Wix SEO Learning Hub: https://www.wix.com/seo/learn Richman SEO Training: https://www.seotraininglondon.org/ Viral Content Bee: https://viralcontentbee.com/ News: Google rolling out site names and updated favicon logos in search results: https://searchengineland.com/google-rolling-out-site-names-and-updated-favicon-logos-in-search-results-388714