Google Talks About Domains and SEO
In issue #263 of the SEOForLunch we cover Bings IndexNow WordPress plugin and Google's stance on various domain setups in regards to ranking.
Hi Lunch Buddies!
Has everyone been experiencing crazy cold weather lately?
Last week we saw -15 degrees here in Minnesota and it kept us even more housebound than COVID already does. Last Friday we saw a small reprieve and it hit 30 degrees. We ended up taking the kids sledding (in the dark) to get some much-needed outside time.
I’m happy to say we all survived the nighttime sledding adventure but that we’re back to being couped up inside. Today’s high - 4 degrees.
Let’s jump into today’s newsletter!
-Nick
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Official Search Engine Updates
Article
Microsoft (Bing) Releases IndexNow WordPress plugin
What's Important:
Back in October, Bing and Yandex collectively announced the adoption of IndexNow. This protocol allows your site’s content to be instantly indexed in each search engine. Microsoft recently announced a WordPress plugin that allows for automated submission of new content through an API.
Nick's Take:
Google may drive the majority of organic traffic to sites but you shouldn’t sleep on any opportunity to bring in Bing organic traffic. If you utilize WordPress consider utilizing this plugin, if you don’t use WordPress you should consider still utilizing the IndexNow protocol.
Article
Google’s Page Experience Update Coming to Desktop Next Month
What's Important:
Barry Schwartz caught an update on Twitter from Google’s Software Engineer, Malte Ubl announcing the page experience ranking for desktop will be “going out next month.” Google has stated that users should not expect drastic changes
Nick's Take:
The mobile update wasn’t nearly as impactful as most SEOs feared. So when Google states that the desktop update shouldn’t cause drastic changes, I personally believe it. Page experience including Core Web Vitals is very important to your users so even if it’s not a huge SEO impact, I highly recommend you would with your teams to prioritize this in 2022+.
Video
Google Answer’s All Your Domain SEO Related Questions
What's Important:
Does Google care if you use .space or .com? How about www vs non www? Will one give you better ranking potential? What about country-code domain names - does that limit you to ranking for only ranking in that country?
Nick's Take:
These lightning round videos are always helpful. In a world of long-winded articles and hours-long podcasts, sometimes it’s nice to cut straight to the point. Definitely worth 2:12 of your time to watch this video.
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Top SEO Resources From Last Week
Are Outbound Links A Googlecy Search Ranking Factor?
Miranda Miller, SearchEngineJournal.com
Outbound linking is a very controversial topic. Ask a group of SEOs and you’ll find people with passionate answers on both sides. Read this article and @me on Twitter to share your position. Excited to chat about this!
22 Smart Google SEO Tips for 2022
Cyrus Shephard, Moz.com
Before you jump into this video I want to congratulate Cyrus. He recently announced on Twitter that after many years, he finished his last day working with the Moz team. In his final White Board Friday, Cyrus walks us through 22 tips for 2022. You’ll be happy to see that he goes beyond the basics and covers many topics/strategies that people still overlook but shouldn’t be.
I might be biased but whoever brought up tactic #11 is SUPER smart.
What I Learnt from Analysing 7 Million Log File Events
Roman Adamita, ScreamingFrog.co.uk
Confession time. Back in the day, I tried manually analyzing server logs and it was a horrible and times taking experience. When SF came out with their log file analysis tool it felt like a gift from the SEO gods. If server log analysis confuses or intimidates you I highly recommend you read this article AND then jump right in. It’s truly the only source of truth when it comes to understanding how Google is crawling your site.
SEO Case Study (On A Budget): From 0 to 75,000 Visits A Year
Ryan Darani, RyanDarani.com
Do you know what’s harder than taking a website from 1,000,000 organic visits to 2,000,000 visits? Getting a website from 0 to 100K. Every single visit feels like a victory and should be treated as such. This is a great case study where Ryan walks us through his approach to helping his client achieve fantastic growth in less than 12 months. This post is a rare look into a fully transparent SEO campaign. Great work!
Why server logs matter for SEO
Kaspar Szymanski, SearchEngineLand.com
I discussed the importance of log files in the Screaming Frog article above so it only makes sense I double down in my last article recommended for this week. This article gives you a detailed answer to the “WHY” “HOW” and “VALUE” behind server logs.
You Made It To The Bottom. You’re AWESOME!
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Learn About The Guy Behind The #SEOForLunch
Nick LeRoy is a professional SEO Consultant specializing in technical SEO, content strategy, and website migrations.
Nick is also the author of two SEO-focused newsletters: #SEOForLunch and The SEO Freelancer.
You can connect with Nick online through Twitter and LinkedIn.