All About Links: JavaScript, HTTP/HTTPS, Link Rot, Ranking, and Link Networks

Sources Cited:Google Search gets Status Dashboard to provide updates during outagesGoogle December 2022 Link Spam UpdateGoogle Launches Visual Guide To Search ElementsLily ray on google updatesA guide to Google Search ranking systems

In a short episode, Cord and Einar preview the new and improved Tallest Tree Think Tank Ranking. The new rankings will be automated, updated monthly, and incorporate more data than ever. This includes:Budget data from ProPublicaTraffic, traffic value, domain rating, and backlink data from AhrefsPages indexed  from Serp APIWeb software from WappalyzerWe're now able to pull historical traffic data from Ahrefs, which will give us insights into the last 36 months of performance for each of the 300+ groups in our study. We thank Ahrefs, who reviewed and approved our use of this data, for their support of this project.We're also working with a new statistician, assistant professor of marketing at Clemson University, Lura Forcum. We're grateful for her insights on the data.A few trends popped up in data review:About 12% of groups are still dealing with www vs non-www canonical issuesMany sites have pop-ups that likely violate Google's Page Experience guidelinesWe found "spikey" traffic patterns for many groups, especially state-based think tanks, which may be explained by the location from which the traffic data was collectedWe saw a few sites that relaunched w/o redirects in place, which resulted in their referring domains crashing and large losses in trafficMany groups were affected by recent Google updatesMany groups saw growth in referring domains w/o growth in traffic

Cord & Einar discuss all things linking. Can JavaScript links pass PageRank? How to HTTP to HTTPS redirects work? Are old links irrelevant? Will links always be a ranking factor? What's a link graph?Sources Cited:Search Engine Roundtable: Google Updates Help Documentation To Say Using JavaScript For Links Can Be FineGoogle Search Central: Make your links crawlableSearch Engine Roundtable: Google Can Pass PageRank From HTTP To HTTPS URLs With RedirectsSearch Engine Roundtable: Google: Some Old Links May Be Irrelevant (AKA Link Rot)Search Engine Roundtable: Google: Links Will Be Less Important As A Ranking Factor In The FutureKevin Indig: https://twitter.com/kevin_indig/status/1590115045236965376SEMRush: Get a Bird’s Eye View of Any Website’s Link NetworkSearch Engine Roundtable: Google Search Console API Delay To Be Fixed In DaysSearch Engine Journal: Is Bounce Rate A Google Ranking Factor?

In this episode Cord & Einar discuss the ever-evolving Tallest Tree approach to SEO audits.Here's the outline Cord & Einar used on the show:ToolsSitebulb: run both an HTML-only and JavaScript crawlAhrefs CrawlerAhrefs Site ExplorerAhrefs Chrome extensionGoogle Search ConsoleChrome Inspector w/LighthouseGoogle’s Robots TesterInspect URL in GSCSchema ValidatorMerkle’s https://technicalseo.com/tools/The Wayback MachineFirst lookExplore the site by hand, view source on whatever the half dozen most-used templates seem to beTurn off JavaScript using Chrome extension and review the site againExplore the backend and get some counts on posts, categories, authors, etc.Look at plugins/modulesReview Sitebult/Ahrefs crawl resultsReview Google Search ConsoleThe goal of the first look is form a basic hypothesis about how technical SEO and site structure can be improved. Take screenshots and start making slides right away.ChecklistReview 192 items in 35 categoriesReportingHow a search engine worksCrawlingIndexingRankingE-A-TMeasurementRank TrackingGTM & GA4 for Traffic  & ConversionsLink GrowthGoogle News

In this episode Cord & Einar discuss Google changing Data Studio to Google Looker Studio, SEO conferences, Kevin Indig's take on the latest Google updates, previously visited sitelink icons, and the trouble with timestamps.Sources Cited:Search Engine Roundtable: Google Data Studio Is Now Looker StudioSearch Engine Journal: The Best SEO Conferences In 2022-2023 (Virtual And In-Person)Kevin Indig: Google's latest updates leave no room for low-quality contentSearch Engine Roundtable: Google Tests Previously Visited Sitelinks IconsSearch Engine Roundtable: Google Still Working On Getting Timestamps Accurate In Search Results

In this episode Cord & Einar discuss the title tag length, "link juice," AMP is dead, measuring forms with GA4, how Googlebot handles iframes, and how to think about copies of original content on the web.Sources Cited:Search Engine Land: What should the title tag length be in 2023?SEO Roundtable: Google: Anything That Talks About Link Juice Should Be IgnoredLily Ray 😏 on Twitter: "The "nail in the coffin for AMP"Search Engine Land: GA4 now has an enhanced measurement option for Form interactionsSearch Engine Land: Technical SEO testing: How Googlebot handles iframesSEO Roundtable: Google Gives Advice On When Copy Sites Outrank Your Original Content

In this episode Cord & Einar discuss the changes to mobile search, iOS 14.5 makes the case for programmatic SEO, September core update winners/losers, changing URLs, website quality scores, and 4 ways to measure SEO effectiveness.Sources Cited:Search Engine Journal: Google Announces 5 Changes Coming To Mobile SearchVenture Beat: Decreasing ad revenue, iOS 14.5 make case for programmatic SEOAmsive Digital: Winners & Losers of the September 2022 Core Update & Product Reviews UpdateSearch Engine Journal: Website Quality Score: Is It A Google Ranking Factor?Search Engine Land: 4 smarter ways to measure SEO effectiveness

In this episode Cord & Einar discuss the Google September Core Update and how we can measure the effect it's had on website combined with the Helpful Content. We also talk about GSC reports and a fatal error caused by a Yoast plugin update.Sources Cited:Search Engine Journal: Yoast SEO 19.7 Causes Fatal Error & Crashes WebsitesSearch Engine Land: Google launches new HTTPS report in Google Search ConsoleSEO Roundtable: Is The Percentage Of Pages Not Indexed A Bad Google SEO Sign?Ahrefs: How to Fix "Discovered - currently not indexed"Kevin Indig: Case Study AI content punished by the HCU updateSearch Engine Journal: Google Says AI Generated Content Is Against GuidelinesSearch Engine Journal: Google Answers If Core Update Ranking Losses Are A Soft PenaltyBarry Adams: https://twitter.com/badams/status/1572136878740054019?s=12&t=SLaNlPLSq-JmdJdNOttFJASearch Engine Journal: Google: Timing Of September Core Update After HCU Not CoincidentalBarry Adams: https://twitter.com/badams/status/1572631653557895168?s=12&t=i5qR5S75L3-c2fC0DwMbcQ

Why is the "Helpful Content" not very helpful so far? We also discuss new reporting for Core Web Vitals, the worst SEO advice, open-sourcing Yoast schema, and Google's "Search Off The Record" podcast's recent statements on crawl budget.Sources cited:Search Engine Land: Google On Why Helpful Content Update Seems QuietSEO Roundtable: Google Core Web Vitals Report Adds URL Level Data For Examples URLsSearch Engine Land: The WORST SEO advice I heard this year (and what you should do instead)Yoast: Open-source software, open Schema protocol!Search Off the Record: Crawl Budget

Where has Google's data gone? How to "align with consensus" according to the QRG. What Google says you should do with old events (probably delete them), and our thoughts about robots.txt.Sources Cited:https://pca.st/episode/2cc8cdde-b00a-4da7-8c9f-c4b79845ede0https://searchengineland.com/google-consensus-qrg-seo-387142https://www.seroundtable.com/google-seo-old-event-pages-33847.htmlhttps://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/robots/robots_txt