Your summer news SEO reading list

The news SEO sphere has been absolutely buzzing with information, advice and analysis over the past few weeks. Here, we collected our favourites posts to read.

Aug 08, 2022

Hello, and welcome back! It’s extremely hot in Toronto right now, and I, Shelby, am currently writing this with ice packs on my extremities. Last time I did that, I ended up with freezer burn on my cheek. Let’s see what happens this time.

It’s that time of the summer where you are likely to receive more out of office notices than real emails, so we figured it was a good time to take a step back and look at what our community is talking about. The news SEO sphere has been absolutely buzzing with information, advice and analysis over the past few weeks, so we collected our favourites for you to parse through. Grab your beverage of choice, head to your favourite nook and let’s catch up on the best information you could need.

In other news: My first day at The Athletic is today! I’m so excited to be joining as a Newsroom SEO Editor under Claudio Cabrera. Sports was my first love, so it’s a dream come true to be a part of this team. But don’t worry, I’ll be sticking around for the newsletter.

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Let’s get it.

THE 101

Five things you need to read

1. 2022 update for Google Quality Rater Guidelines – big YMYL updates

Why it matters: YMYL (your money, your life) and E.A.T (expertise, authority and trustworthiness) are two major focuses of Google. As of late, most of their updates have directly targeted these topics. Eight months into 2022, we finally have the first Google Quality Rater Guidelines update of the year. Jennifer Slegg from The SEM Post runs through everything – and I mean everything – you need to know about the guidelines updates.

2. Why you should target zero search volume keywords

Why it matters: We’ve discussed search volume and its value in keyword research. But, just as important are zero search volume keywords – those long-tail or hyper-specific keywords that don’t have any data in a keyword research tool, but still show up. Katie Frank provides a comprehensive look at why not targeting zero search volume keywords is a missed opportunity, and how to go about doing it.

3. 7 things Kristina Azarenko wishes she understood earlier as a technical SEO 🧵

Why it matters: Technical SEO is extremely daunting, especially if you’re a one-human show doing all of the work. Kristina Azarenko breaks down what she wishes she knew when she started. As someone who was thrown into the tech SEO space really early, I cannot agree more with everything she says (especially #5!).

4. Tales of Robots.txt: Uncrawled URLs in Google Search

Why it matters: Ever gone into Google Search Console and seen thousands of URLs marked “indexed, though blocked by robots.txt” and wondered why in the world this is happening? Adam Gent runs through a case study where he learns how to – slowly – resolve these issues.

5. July 2022’s Google Product Reviews Update finished on August 2nd – and no one said anything

Why it matters: If you work with affiliate commerce on your site, or are interested in reviewing products or services, it’s important to keep up with the PRUs Google has been pushing. This piece is especially interesting because Google never mentioned the update finishing, but SEOs have mentioned seeing strange movements in SERPs.

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