Google’s featured snippets are selected search results that are featured on top of Google’s organic results below the ads in a box. MOZ contributor Ann Smarty has published an in-depth article offering useful tips to optimize for Google’s featured snippets. She says, “Multiple studies confirm that the majority of featured snippets are triggered by long-tail keywords. In fact, the more words that are typed into a search box, the higher the probability there will be a featured snippet. It’s always a good idea to start with researching your keywords. Moz’s Keyword... [...]

As part of Search Engine Journal’s article series explaining various Google Ranking factors, Kayle Larkin has published an article explaining whether bounce rate is a Google Ranking Factor. She says, “In “How Search Works,” Google says, “…we use aggregated and anonymized interaction data to assess whether search results are relevant to queries.” Screenshot from Google Search, June 2022 The vague wording here has led to many assumptions about what “interaction data” Google uses to inform its machine learning systems.” Is Bounce Rate A Google Ranking Factor? Search... [...]

Google’s helpful content update helps reward content that gives users a satisfying experience. It is a site-wide signal that can hurt the visibility of all content if too many articles are deemed unhelpful. Neil Patel has published a new video ‘Here’s What Google Classifies as Helpful Content’ explaining how you can create content that Google indexes. He says, “By now you know about Google’s helpful content update. It’s all about how Google wants you to create content for humans and not search engines which makes sense because no one wants to read content there’s... [...]

Google is testing a new label in the search results to tell searchers what is a quick read or a page that takes less than five minutes to read. Neil Patel has published a new video ‘What Google’s Quick Read Test Tells Us About the Future of SEO’ talking about the future of SEO. He says, “What Google’s Quick Read tells us about the future of SEO. If you haven’t seen yet, Google’s running an experiment called Quick Read. It is where they let you know in the search results if something is fast read or not. It looks something like this. It’s actually been... [...]

Google’s helpful content update aims to better reward content where visitors feel they’ve had a satisfying experience. This update requires quality content and a strong SEO strategy too. MarketingProfs contributor James De Roche has published an article featuring five SEO mistakes that should be avoided to meet the helpful content update guidelines. He says, “Here’s what the traps are—and what to do instead. 1. Longer content isn’t always better content Since the “skyscraper technique” has become the norm, marketers have become increasingly focused... [...]

In its series explaining various Google Ranking factors, Search Engine Journal contributor Kayle Larkin has published an article explaining whether Nofollow links are a Google Ranking Factor. She says, “At face value, the average website user cannot tell whether a link is Nofollow or Dofollow. You can copy or click on a Nofollow link just the same as they do any other link on the web. Behind the scenes, however, there is quite a big difference. Google considers Dofollow links a vote of confidence and trust for the information shared on that webpage. These are ranking factors. Nofollow links... [...]

Google Search Central has published a new video answering the question ‘Does Google ignore hashtags in a URL?‘. The Google team says, “Learn if Googlebot ignores what’s behind the hashtag or number symbol when crawling and indexing the web. John shares how pages with JavaScript sometimes handle these differently.”  [...]

In its series explaining various Google Ranking factors, Search Engine Journal contributor Miranda Miller has published an article explaining whether Author Authority is a Google Ranking Factor. She says, “When determining the overall quality of a webpage and how well it answers a search query, Google emphasizes E-A-T. That is Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. But does this include the E-A-T of the author? Does it matter if the piece was written by a genuine expert rather than a recent journalism graduate? Author authority is a concept that has been around for years. And... [...]

A meta description is an HTML element that provides a brief summary of a web page. A page’s meta description tag is displayed as part of the search snippet in a search engine results page (SERP) and is meant to give the user an idea of the content that exists within the page and how it relates to their search query. Neil Patel has published a new video ‘How Google Wants You to Create Meta Descriptions’ explaining how to write meta descriptions for Google Search. He says, “How Google wants you to create meta descriptions. Have you ever done a search on Google and notice... [...]

MOZ has published the latest episode of Whiteboard Friday video ‘Measuring E-A-T?’ featuring Lily Ray. The MOZ team says, “The level of trust users have in your brand’s expertise is an important component when vying for that #1 spot, but Google has been ambiguous about what E-A-T (expertise-authoritativeness-trustworthiness) actually is, and how it plays into your SERP rankings. In today’s episode of Whiteboard Friday, Lily Ray discusses the ways in which you can prove that all important “E” – expertise.” MOZ    [...]