A New Search Engine Is Announced!
In episode 284 of the #SEOForLunch we discuss the newest search engine to launch, yep.com. Will it be a competitor to Google? Only time will tell.
Hi Lunch Buddies!
Hello everyone! This week the family and I are in the midst of a road trip to Yellowstone National Park. We’re currently staying a few nights in Wyoming visiting the Grand Teton.
The view from our rental cabin has been fantastic and is where I’m writing this week’s newsletter. In fact, let’s jump right into this issue.
-Nick
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Official Search Engine Updates
Article
SEO tool Ahrefs invests $60M in building a search engine, ‘Yep’
What's Important:
Popular SEO tool provider Ahrefs has secretly been working on their own search engine yep.com. Tim Soulo, CMO of Ahrefs confirmed on Twitter that this is not an official release but a “progress report” of the companies efforts.
Nick’s Take:
A lot of SEOs poked fun at this search engine being announced including me. In all reality, despite my tongue-in-cheek response, I commend Ahrefs for taking on this MASSIVE challenge. I doubt the goal is to challenge Google for industry leadership but even taking 1-2% of the market share would make this a very profitable venture.
Podcast
A spotlight on SEO and data with Michelle Robbins
What's Important:
Google’s Gary Illyes and Lizzie Sassman interview SEO industry veteran Michelle Robbins about her career. They discuss everything from AIM (AOL Instant Messanger) to her entry into the SEO industry to her current initiatives.
Nick’s Take:
Michelle is an amazing individual and it was amazing to hear about her journey thus far. I was fortunate back in ~2010 to work with her on the SEO digg.com equivalent known as SPHINN (RIP). More recently, both Michelle and I both joined Wix.com SEO advisory board where she continues to add tremendous value.
Video
How to make your ecommerce website mobile friendly (8 Tips)
What's Important:
Google’s Alan Kent continues his eCommerce series this time outlining 8 tips for mobile-friendly sites.
Nick’s Take:
As I’ve mentioned in previous episodes, if you operate or optimize eCommerce websites then it’s worth your time to watch and follow this video series. Some of these tips may seem a bit obvious while ones like #6 are straight-up often ignored.
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Top SEO Resources From Last Week
A map for indie living ie: freelancing
Tom Critchlow tomcritchow.com
Have you recently gone freelance? Is freelance a goal of yours in the near term? Tom writes this great article explaining the various phases that most/all go through. I couldn’t help but nod my head and remember various experiences I had while going through the journey myself.
Why We Stopped (Most) Manual Link Building After 1M+ Emails
Ross Hudgens, Siegemedia.com
Admittedly I went into this post rolling my eyes (sorry Ross!) but everything he wrote (and said in the podcast) is true. What really cemented this post and why I take back the eye-rolling was the fact that he suggested that manual outreach is still very likely critical for brand new companies/websites. Content doesn’t get much better than when it challenges a preconceived notion that you already have.
The May 2022 Core Update: The Initial Impact
Mordy Oberstein, SemRush.com
I promised you guys that core update content was coming and Mordy delivered. Did you see a organic performance impact (positive or negative) at the end of May 22? It’s possible that your site was effected by this update. Mordy further covers everything that we know to date including mobile vs desktop and even comparisons to the last core update back in November 21’.
Canonicalization: What It Is & How It Works
Patrick Stox, Ahrefs.com
After giving the Ahrefs team a bit of a ribbing regarding their new search engine project it only makes sense that I include one of their latest posts that kicks butt. Patrick tackles a “basic” topic in canonicalization that a lot of people aren’t even aware that what they know is wrong. Even if your confident you know canonicalization inside and out the 9 common mistakes should be reviewed by everyone.
Google Author Rank: How Google Knows which Content Belongs to Which Author?
Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR, holisticseo.digital
I’m going to warn you now - this is not a short article. However, the topic is very complex and worth your time to read and understand. If you want to better understand what author rank is, how Google uses it and even how you might optimize for it then this post is worth the full time it takes to read.
You Made It To The Bottom. You’re AWESOME!
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Learn About The Guy Behind The #SEOForLunch
Nick LeRoy is a freelance SEO Consultant specializing in SEO services for enterprise-level businesses. You can read more about his approach to SEO and his services here.
Nick is the author of two SEO-focused newsletters: #SEOForLunch and The SEO Freelancer and co-owner of the boutique job board SEOjobs.com
You can connect with Nick online through Twitter and LinkedIn.