SEO News you might have missed

Show Notes

• 02:33
  Recent changes in Google Search Console

  Robots.txt tester has been replaced with a robots.txt report, which shows the last time Google read the file. In the performance report, you can now filter by merchant listings, providing valuable insights for e-commerce sites, and the crawl rate limiter tool will be discontinued.
• 06:52
  Recent SERP changes

  Seller Ratings are now showing up, while indented results have been removed. Popular opinion carousels have been introduced, and video thumbnails now only appear in search results when they are the page's main content, rather than on pages with many videos.
• 09:57
  The dynamic nature of eCommerce SERPs

  Google's continuous experimentation in this space suggests a concerted effort to enhance the user experience and compete with platforms like Amazon. Staying updated on these changes is crucial as they can significantly impact click-through rates even if rankings remain stable.
• 13:52
  Updates in structured data and schema

  New schema markup is available for vacation rentals, course info, vehicle listings, and profile pages. There's now support for product variants, and the recommended list of fields has been expanded for organizational schema.
• 19:21
  The importance of comprehensive schema markup

  Beyond rich results, schema markup helps build a more robust entity graph for websites. As Google shifts to an entity-based understanding of the web, anything that helps it understand your business and the entities that are connected is valuable to provide.
• 23:55
  Google's use of user engagement data in search results

  The Google vs. DOJ trial revealed that Google has been using user engagement to refine search results since 2005 through a system called Nab Boost. Designing pages to satisfy users is crucial as this can directly impact SEO performance.
• 28:45
  Google's timeline for user engagement data

  While the reason for 13 months of data isn't public knowledge, it may be due to seasonality and evolving user behavior. Having two Januarys in the data allows for a more nuanced understanding of seasonal patterns and potentially identifies long-term shifts in user behavior.
• 31:15
  Nab Boost and its implications for SEO

  The disclosure of Google's use of engagement data provides further context to its longstanding recommendation of creating user-centric pages. The revelation highlights the importance of incorporating UX considerations into SEO strategies and conducting user testing.
• 32:51
  Core web vitals changes

  INP (Interaction to Next Paint) will replace FID (First Input Delay) as a performance metric. For sites using JavaScript frameworks like Next.js or React, INP is a metric to pay close attention to, especially as user experience and engagement signals become increasingly important for SEO.