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And, if you care about SEO, invest in User Experience. Aligning SEO and UX offers too many mutual benefits to ignore.

Ahead of our March 15th webinar, let’s explore the importance of aligning of SEO and UX and 5 steps to get you there. 

Why is SEO and User Experience Alignment Important? 

Alignment is no longer a “nice to have”. It must be viewed as a requirement for any brand that heavily relies on organic search as part of their marketing strategy. Google’s Page Experience and the Core Web Vitals that help the search engine measure it, are now used to rank pages for both mobile and desktop search. At the heart of Page Experience is a focus on improved user experience.

In effect, this is Google saying: Hey, it’s no longer enough to have good, authoritative information on your page, and it’s no longer enough to have optimized titles and tags, because if your page loads too slowly or your ads are overly intrusive, for example, the user suffers. You still need good information and optimized page structure, of course, but the user experience is now critical in determining whether Google is willing to recommend your content (with a high search rank).

The hallmark of an optimal search-originated user experience is seamless continuity. In other words, the promise of the search result is fulfilled by a click that returns the expected information without requiring the user to wait long for it, dig for it or clear away pop-ups, interstitials and other detritus to access it. The best experience is usually the one the user doesn’t notice. Easy enough. 

Creating a seamless user experience is far from easy, though. A big part of that is because the user experience is the combined efforts of SEO, IT, content, brand, monetization and other folks whose goals and priorities, when not in direct opposition, are not always aligned. Without that alignment, however, the user experience suffers, and a lousy user experience tallies its costs in lost business. With SEO more directly influencing and dependent on the user experience, the stakes of alignment are higher than ever. 

How Do We Align SEO and The User Experience? 

The good news is that with a coordinated and committed approach, alignment is achievable. We’ve identified 5 keys to successfully aligning SEO and user experience teams: 

1. Align on measurement goals 
2. Establish and speak a similar language 
3. Coordinate priorities 
4. Connect UX initiatives to SEO benefits and vice versa 
5. Evangelize mutual successes 

Join us for a webinar on Tuesday, March 15 at 11 am PST / 2 pm EST where we’ll dive deeper into the 5 keys to alignment with strategies to leverage SEO insights to both improve your rankings and visibility while elevating the customer experience. We’ll further qualify the benefits of aligning SEO and the user experience, zero in on the primary barriers to alignment and explore specific actions organizations can take to achieve alignment. Finally, we’ll demonstrate how BrightEdge users can leverage the BrightEdge platform in support of SEO / User Experience collaboration. 

REGISTER NOW

This past Friday, March 4, 2022, I noticed that the chatter within the SEO community started to heat up and then the day later, the automated search engine tracking tools started to show volatility. There may have been a Google search ranking algorithm update on March 4th.

Let me start by saying it is likely unrelated to the rollout of the page experience update for desktop which started on February 22nd and ended 9-days later on March 3rd. We also saw an unconfirmed update on February 24th and since then, it has been pretty quiet and stable.

But like I said, I saw a spike in SEO chatter on Friday, which was supported by the tracking tools.

SEO Chatter

Here is some of the chatter I found in the ongoing WebmasterWorld thread related to a possible, but yet, unconfirmed, update on March 4th:

Are any of you guys who are losing traffic seeing your avg position drop as well?

Inevitable fluctuations this week however yesterday was busy and it’s continued into today and with 10 hours of my Googleday to run I’m at a surprising 95.4% for my global site.

UK sites are down however also surprising at 82% with usually busier hours to come.

Since monday drop followed by drops. This morning seems to have some signs of recovery. Too early to say anything. Just wait…

Kicked while you’re down. Down 20-40%.

This Monday to Friday I have seen 108.7% PVs which has surprised me, today after 14.5 hours I’m at 28.7% which is way below average. Genuine business enquiries have all but dried-up except for the MOST expensive products!.!.!

UK sites are down across the board from 10-30% depending on the niche.

Considering my post of yesterday I was extremely surprised this morning:
PVs: 87.33% of weekday average and well above an average weekend.
58.4% of traffic from the USA which is 50+% more than normal.
Today forward? Not a clue!

Tracking Tools

Virtually all the tracking tools showed a pretty big swing up in volatility on March 4th. Here are screenshots from all the tools.

Semrush:

RankRanger:

Mozcast:

Cognitive SEO:

Accuranker:

Advanced Web Rankings:

SERPwoo:

Algoroo:

So it seems like there was a disturbance on Friday, March 4th, in the Google search results.

Did any of you notice it?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

This week in search, I reported how the Google page experience update for desktop has been fully rolled out. I also posted my monthly Google webmaster recap, for you all to check out and catch up with. Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool is erroring out for some folks. Alan Kent from Google said no worries on merchants trying to fake the Shopping experience scorecard metrics, Google has ways to verify the metrics and will penalize merchants that try. IndexNow has grown with integration from Duda and a couple new SEO plugins but Yoast’s founder is not too optimistic about it. Google said it does not use the disavow files to discover link networks. Google spoke about the issues with translated content and garbage parameters in URLs. If you block users in the US, you need to block Google as well. Don’t forget, there are not more eligibility requirements for showing up in top stores. Google’s local pack map is now an interactive map. Google is showing how the business details are confirmed in the local listings. Google business profiles may require double verification. Google is testing a search bar filter at the top right section. Google is testing dropped the estimated results. Google has an upcoming SEO workshop with its internal SEOs and the Search Central unconference is coming later this month. Most people think Google will remain dominate over the next ten years. Google has pauses all ads from serving in Russia temporarily. Anton Shulke, a beloved SEM, is in Kyiv, Ukraine, trying to live a normal life but also making badges out of bedding – praying for you all. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsored by BruceClay who has been doing search marketing optimization since 1996 and also has an amazing SEO training platform.

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Search Topics of Discussion:

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

The Google page experience update for desktop is now fully live but it didn’t seem to impact rankings, as expected. Google said it has ways to verify that the Google Shopping merchant experience scorecard metrics are legit and if they are faked, those merchants will be penalized. Google temporarily paused as from serving in Russia. Google may one day crawl from outside of the US, maybe. Google does not have a demo account for Search Console. Plus, I posted the weekly video recap.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Page Experience Update For Desktop Done Rolling Out
  That is a wrap – the Google page experience update for desktop is now fully rolled out – as of yesterday, March 3rd. If you are counting, that is a 9-day roll out, which began on February 22nd and ended on March 3rd.
• Google: We Mechanisms To Verify Merchant Experience Scorecard Metrics
  A couple of weeks ago we reported that Google has a new set of ranking factors specific to the Google Shopping tab named the Shopping experience scorecard program. The concern was that merchants are asked to feed these metrics to Google and that the merchants will only feed positive scores, potentially manipulating the metrics and thus their rankings.
• Google Temporarily Pauses All Ads In Serving In Russia
  Last night Google announced it is temporarily pausing Google ads from serving to users located in Russia. This is due to the “ongoing war in Ukraine” according to the Google statement.
• Google: Googlebot May One Day Crawl From Outside The U.S.
  The other day I reported again how blocking US based users would require you to also block Googlebot, Google’s crawler. And that would be devastating to a site’s search rankings in Google. But John Mueller of Google said it is not out of the question that Google one day may decide to crawl from outside of the US.
• There Is No Google Search Console Demo Account
  Some folks are asking why there isn’t a demo account for Google Search Console like there is for Google Analytics. John Mueller said Daniel Waisberg and the Google Search Console team looked into it but it is “super hard, and requires constant maintenance.” That is why they have not done it yet.
• Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Page Experience Desktop Update Live, Search Console Errors, IndexNow Growing, Local Map Interactive & Ads Paused In Russia
  This week in search, I reported how the Google page experience update for desktop has been fully rolled out. I also posted my monthly Google webmaster recap…
• Anton Shulke In Kyiv Making Bandages Out Of Bedding
  Many of you may know the loved Anton Shulke from the SEM industry. Well, he is based in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, and he decided to stick it out during this invasion. He is sharing a number

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Yoast’s founder says that IndexNow is not more efficient and does not lead to more search traffic. Google local panels are showing “confirmed by phone call” to tell searchers how recently Google knew the details were accurate. Google said it does not have quotas on how much a site can rank for. Google is testing dropping the estimated number of search results metric. Google is bringing back the Search Central unconference later this month.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Local Panel Showing Confirmed By Phone Call (Duplex Related)
  Google is now showing how long ago it confirmed a phone number and hours were accurate for a local business. Google can now write in a business local panel “confirmed by phone call” followed by how long ago it was.
• Yoast Founder: IndexNow Doesn’t Lead To More Traffic Or Improved Crawl Efficiency
  Some of you may be wondering why Yoast or WordPress have not integrated the Microsoft backed IndexNow protocol. Well, Joost de Valk, the founded of Yoast said he has seen zero evidence that IndexNow helps sites gain more traffic or reduces crawling or improves crawl efficiency.
• Google Tests Removing Estimated Number Of Search Results
  Google Search is testing removing the estimated number of search results figure you typically see under the search bar after you conduct a search query. Google tested this back in 2016 and I guess Google is testing it again.
• Google Ranking Quotas Do Not Exist
  Google’s John Mueller said again that websites do not have some form of quota where they can only rank for a limited number of keywords. He said on Twitter “there’s no hard limit for how many pages we show from a site, subdomain or not.”
• Google Search Central Virtual Unconference Back Returns For 2022
  Martin Splitt from Google announced on Twitter that the Google Search Central Virtual Unconference is returning at the end of this month for the 2022 event. Google held an Unconference 2021 and 2020 and I guess has decided to host one again this year.
• Google Buenos Aires Office
  Here is a photo I found on Instagram from the Google Buenos Aires, Argentina office. This is one of the views, but the office looks amazing. I’ve embedded more photos from this Instagram post for yo

Other Great Search Threads:

• I see in your later tweets that you understand how featured snippets work and why sometimes the snippeted passage might not be best. For others, the background is here. I’m passing this along for immedia, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
• A sitemap file is not a normal web page, it’s a specific format made for machine processing. There’s no notion of “nofollow” for sitemaps, there are no “links” in a sitemap file. Using x-robots-tag n, John Mueller on Twitter
• What makes good SEO great? The part that comes after the technical checklist has been completed, after the pages have been optimized, and the client asks, “what now?” That’s the part that can’t always be taught – the cre, Lily Ray on Twitter
• @amywhodigital I’ll pass the feedback on, but there doesn’t appear to be any single designated organization in charge of the day. From what I see, the UN is certainly a major proponent. But even the UN site that thread poin, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
• Does “Located In” affect GBP rank?, Local Search Forum
• I’m pretty sure that’s a unique situation where it looks like you are advertising for jobs at Indeed near your own search location, so we’re listing your own job openings first. I’m not in that loca, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
• Ukrainians looking for work, gigs or something: https://t.co/JW4iNX7Ayr Filling in another one with those who may offer jobs or gigs for Ukrainian digital specialists, Olesia Korobka on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

I posted the big Google webmaster report where you can catch up on the more important SEO related changes in the past month. Google Search Console’s URL inspection tool has errors but Google should be fixing it, if it is not fixed already. Google Business Profiles may require you to double verify your business. Google spoke about translated content and garbage parameters in URLs. Google also spoke about blocking users from the USA and how that can lead to huge Google ranking issues.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• March 2022 Google Webmaster Report
  It is time for the March 2022 Google webmaster report, where I look back at the past 30-days of SEO news related to Google and highlight the most important changes over that time period. This month we had a confirmed rollout begin of the page experience update for desktop, we learned about an update to the Pirate update, a new shopping ranking factor and more.
• Google Search Console URL Inspection Tool Errors
  Yesterday, Google confirmed that some folks trying to use the URL Inspection tool via the console or even the API may be seeing errors. Google said it is working on a fix but almost a day later, some are still having issues and Google has yet to confirm it is resolved.
• Google: Translated Content & Garbage Parameters In URLs
  You may end up confusing Google when you have “garbage” parameters trailing in your URLs, espesially when it comes to translated content parameters. There is this interesting conversation when a large multilingual site found its translated content excluded from Google Search with a “crawled currently not indexed” status.
• Google Business Profiles May Require Additional Verification
  Google has updated the help document on how to verify your business to say “we may require you to verify by more than one method.” So if you verify using one method, Google might decide it needs you to verify again but using a different method.
• PSA: Blocking USA Users But Allowing Googlebot Is Against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
  Google sends its crew of crawlers, Googlebot, from the United States. That is where 99% of the crawling originates from. If you are not allowed to show your website to users based in the United States, then you also cannot show that website to Googlebot.
• Google Charleston East Dome Almost Ready
  Here is a photo from Louis Gray of the new GooglePlex building, he said it is called the Google Charleston East Dome building. He also said it looks almost done and ready to move in.

Other Great Search Threads:

• @yandexcom is the largest technology company in Russia and the country’s second-largest search engine. The former head of its news division, Lev Gershenzon, just made this remarkable post on Facebook, addressed to his form, Ilya Lozovsky on Twitter
• Cloudflare affects SEO?, WebmasterWorld
• March 2022 AdSense Earnings and Observations, WebmasterWorld
• Terrorists use Google maps tags to adjust the fires!! Please help! – Форум , Google Maps Help
• That looks like valid HTML (it’s fine to have multiple attributes on a tag), so it would be fine. That various tools don’t see them would suggest that there’s more to it than just this HTML snippet though, so I’d dig f, John Mueller on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

IndexNow has grown more support over the past week, now on millions of websites. Google said it does not use disavow files to discover link networks. Google says one site will never always rank above another site. CSS colors are not a Google ranking factor. A poll says that most people think Google will still be dominate in 10 years from now.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Survey Says Google Will Remain Dominate In 10 Years
  Greg Sterling, a search industry analyst (amongst other things), posted a poll on Twitter asking where will Google be in ten years from now. The vast majority of responses said Google will still be dominate in 10 years from now, while only 13% said it will have been replaced by something else.
• IndexNow Added To Duda, All In One WordPress & Rank Math SEO Plugins
  Last week, Microsoft Bing announced over the course of three days that IndexNow gained support from Duda (a sponsor here), the All In One WordPress plugin and Rank Math SEO Plugin. This brings support for IndexNow to millions of sites, up from well under a million sites using it last time we checked.
• Google Does Not Use Disavow Files To Target Link Networks
  Google’s John Mueller said again that Google does not use the link disavow files for discovery of spammy link networks. He said on Twitter “usually problematic link networks are easier to recognize in other ways. I don’t think the disavow tool would be a very useful signal there.”
• Google: One Site Won’t Always Rank Above Another Site
  Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter “it’s never that site A always ranks above site B.” He was asked if Medium articles always rank better than articles found on LinkedIn and John said no. He added “there’s no special search ranking for any particular site.”
• Google: CSS Colors Are Not A Google Ranking Factor…
  Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter “we generally don’t use color as a factor.” He then added “but CSS tweaks can include a lot more than just color changes.” We know that making site changes can impact your rankings but John has said numerous times before, just making color changes should not impact your rankings.
• Google Wooden Hammock
  Here is a photo from outside the amazing Google office in Brazil of a wooden hammock. It looks like a nice and relaxing spot to think about how to get people to click on more search ads in Google.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

What is an integrated marketing campaign?

As marketers we distinguish between campaigns in different channels, because of differences in format, cost, frequency and dozens of other variables. Often, marketing staff are siloed with one team handling organic social, another team, SEO, another team handling events and so on. So, it’s easy to forget that our customers don’t necessarily make the same distinctions. In fact, a guiding principle of integrated marketing as it was formally defined by Northwestern professor and “father of integrated marketing communications,” the late Don E. Schultz, is that from the many points of exposure to and interaction with a brand, consumers form one singular perception.   

An integrated marketing campaign, then, is a cross-channel marketing strategy that involves creating consistent campaigns across different platforms to provide a cohesive experience for the customer. Each brand experience should be consistent whether a customer experiences the brand through social media, direct marketing or another channel. 

Why is integrated marketing important? 

An integrated marketing campaign understands that customers are not confined to a single channel. Consumers today are encountering brands and advertisements everywhere they go, from the bus to their favorite websites to their email. For your brand to stand out to customers, you need to create campaigns that live on the platforms that customers frequent. Simultaneously, the campaigns must share similar features, so they stand out in customers’ minds and build on each other in customers’ perception and awareness of the brand and offering. 

When your campaign is fully integrated, customers will recognize your brand regardless of where they see it. This will help them remember what you had to say, thus strengthening your relationship with them. 

What are the elements of an integrated marketing strategy? 

A quality integrated marketing campaign will take on a few features. Visually and textually, they will provide consistent messaging regardless of the platform. The colors, layout and images should all be easily recognizable across the different formats. 

Your campaign should also specifically target a variety of platforms that are regularly viewed by your target audience. Break down social media sites, email touch points, PPC keywords and any other channels that will be leveraged in the campaign to maximize exposure for the particular buyer persona. 

You also want to make sure that any customer-facing employees are informed about this campaign. For example, if you have a physical store, make sure employees know how to redeem email coupons for online discounts. 

How to build an integrated marketing campaign? 

1. Decide who the campaign will target and how success will be measured. 
2. Identify where this targeted audience is most likely to engage and interact with your content and make those channels the focus of the campaign. 
3. Bring together the marketing and sales teams that will participate in the campaign and have them align with goals. 
4. Have the teams outline how they will contribute to achieving the goals. 
5. Use your defined metrics to judge the success of your campaign and to understand which platforms are the most effective at bringing in these customers. 
6. Use this information to guide future campaigns to be more efficient and more productive. 

Integrated marketing campaigns are an important part of reaching modern consumers. This type of campaign hinges on the belief that consumers do not interact with your brand in just one channel, and that not all customers interact with your brand in all channels. Instead, they will be using a different mix of platforms. An integrated campaign helps you effectively meet these people and bring them closer to your brand. 

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google took action in the Russia invasion of Ukraine with some new ad policies and restrictions. Google’s local pack map is now interactive and no longer a static map photo. Google is hosting an SEO workshop with Google internal SEO experts. Google is testing placing the search bar filters and options at the top right side of the search box. As a reminder, the top stories box no longer has an eligibility requirement. Plus I posted a new vlog interview today.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Local Pack Is Now Interactive (Not A Static Map)
  Allie Margeson from Whitespark noticed that the Google local pack in the search results is no longer a static map. The map is now interactive and lets searchers zoom in and out, move the map around, hover over businesses to see the names and reviews and even click on the map to go to a specific local business.
• Google Internal SEO Experts Hosting SEO Workshop – Is That Okay?
  David Mihm pointed out on Twitter that Google is hosting a partner workshop event named “Drive Traffic to Your Website with SEO.” The interesting bit is that the workshop says it is “hosted by one of Google’s internal SEO experts, this workshop will give you a behind-the-scenes view into how Google approaches SEO for its own sites.”
• Google Tests Search Bar Filters & Options On Top Right Side
  I am seeing multiple reports of Google placing the search bar filters, you know, the bar that says “all, videos, news, images, more, etc” which is normally placed under the search box, is being tested on the right hand side of the search box. It doesn’t look like a bug but Google has had many weird quirks recently.
• Google Blocks Search Ads From So-Called Donetsk People’s Republic & Luhansk People’s Republic
  Google has posted a new legal requirement policy that blocks search ads related to what is going on with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The policy says that entities and individuals who are restricted cannot create or use a Google Ads account or have Google Ads used on their behalf for those who are located in or reside in so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).
• PSA: Google Top Stories Eligibility For All Pages, Not Just AMP Or Good Page Experience Scores
  This is just a reminder, since I covered this back last April but I forgot myself, there is really no top stories eligibility requirements in Google Search anymore. It use to be that you needed to have AMP pages to be eligible in top stories on mobile. But that went away and you also do not need to have good page experience to be in top stories either.
• Vlog #161: Taylor Kurtz On SEO Gratitude & Getting Up Early To Work
  Taylor Kurtz (@realtaylorkurtz) is the Founder of Crush the Rankings and he stopped by my office to talk SEO. Crush the Rankings is now about four years old and he started this company based on him working on a site that was ‘black listed’ in Google…
• Making A Video At Google For Edible Food Surplus
  Here is a photo from a video production company at a job they had at the GooglePlex, the Google headquarters, where they shot a video recording some Google chefs on the top of edible surplus food.

Other Great Search Threads:

• I don’t think it’s sustainable to rely on the indexing requests for organic changes – it’s sometimes a sign that we’re not convinced of the site overall, and just getting a page indexed won’t change that. It’, John Mueller on Twitter
• To be honest, I don’t think either heading makes the site more relevant to users. It makes it clearer to Google what you want Google to think your page is about, but you’re going to have to do a lot more tha, John Mueller on Twitter
• Googlebot looks at the links on a page and may use them to determine which other pages to crawl. It doesn’t “leave” a site, it only ever looks at individual pages. Link to sites that you think provide valu, John Mueller on Twitter
• Do you have an example of a “good directory”?, John Mueller on Twitter
• Earning from EU hugely drop in past week, WebmasterWorld
• No, not really. We discover lots of URLs, on all kinds of sites, that were don’t crawl. It’s normal that were don’t crawl it all. Of course if your site is very slow, that’s still a problem to check out., John Mueller on Twitter
• There would be more to the story than just 2 domain names, so I’d recommend looking into the bigger picture, and the details. In general, just duplicating content from one country is not a good way to show, John Mueller on Twitter
• There’s no requirement from our side. Noindex, 404, 200, hidden – are all options. If you feel they’re coming back soon, keeping it hidden means you can just make it pop back in. Keeping it live with a “back in, John Mueller on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

• Google Maps, Apple Maps, and smartphones are at the forefront of modern war, AppleInsider
• Local Pack Update Allows Searchers to Interact with the Featured Map, Whitespark
• Ukraine, Core Web Vitals and Local Rankings, Local Inventory Ad Click Surge, Near Media
• Google temporarily disables Google Maps live traffic data in Ukraine, Reuters
• Who Is Policing the Location Data Industry?, The Markup
• Why Are My Google Business Profile Posts Getting Rejected?, Sterling Sky Inc

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

I am seeing new signs of a possible, but yet, unconfirmed Google Search ranking algorithm update that seemed to touch down on Thursday, February 24th. To be honest, this is most likely unrelated to the desktop version of the page experience update that started on Thursday, February 22nd.

There is both a spike in SEO and webmaster chatter from the industry and many of the tools are showing an increase in volatility starting around February 24, 2022. I know a lot of folks will point fingers and the page experience update but like I said, that update will take several weeks to roll out and is not expected to shake up the search results much at all. So I really do not think what we are seeing with this volatility is at all related to the page experience update.

Just some recent history, we did see some minor chatter around February 14th and before that February 6th and February 1st / 2nd but those two were unusual ones. Then before that on January 22nd, January 19th and 20th, January 14th, 15th and 17th, then before that on January 11th and then it was quiet until some tremors in late December.

Here is what we are seeing across the chatter and the tools that track these updates.

SEO Chatter

The ongoing WebmasterWorld thread has several comments in the past day or so about a larger update. Some calling this a “huge” update, saying this is bigger for them than “any core update.” Others are reporting drops in 20% of their traffic, while some saying they see half of what they normally see from Google.

Here are some of those recent comments:

Huge drop in traffic. Bigger than any core update I can remember.

Here, too. Halved from G. Normal from other sources.

20% down on my side after a 10% drop last week. Let’s see how deep it goes…

I have almost identical numbers. This is absolutely extreme for a site like mine which receives very stable traffic and has been around for ages.

Our European travel site’s Google traffic (and traffic in general) were down slightly today, with most of the decline coming from Eastern, Central, and Northern Europe. I’d say that’s pretty understandable, given the circumstances.

Hmm seeing my traffic cut on half again yesterday and today, assumed everyone was busy watching the news!

I was genuinely surprised that yesterday my global site achieved precisely 100% average PVs.

Lots of my usual, targeted single PVs today with the UK much higher than normal so far, Europe lower, India and China average at the moment.

Also in these comments section there is chatter:

We’re facing same issue and our category is Clothing industry. My website traffic drop around 60%. But we don’t know its done only with this google update or anything else. So, If anyone have solutions plz guide us.

Interesting page experiance update. Both websites on same server, same design, same keywords, same speed, etc – one got -35% drop from google, another still holding.

What I see now in my niche is most of sites that rank are some random expired sites that copy and spin content around, various only videos on site with just random text. Google is doing updates, that’s okay, but what I see is that since this update it just got worst and there’s 0 relevancy, domains are super spammy. I really hope that this update is not final. But i think it was Google panda update?

Same here. It hit really hard.

Tracking Tools

Here is what the tracking tools are showing, many are showing a big swing up in volatility in the past day or so.

Mozcast was super hot:

Semrush:

RankRanger:

Accuranker:

SERPmetrics:

Cognitive SEO:

Advanced Web Rankings:

Do you see anything on your end? Let us know in the comments.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.