The web's leading entity in digital marketing concepts, Google, regularly makes changes and updates to help improve the quality and effectiveness of its algorithms and programs. One of the most recent such updates, and one that will impact numerous sites across many industries, is known as the helpful content update.
For any assistance you may need with this and related search engine optimization (SEO) needs, the team at SEO Werkz is here to help. Our experts are always cognizant of upcoming Google updates and changes, so we can help you ensure that your site is as visible as possible in relevant search engine results pages (SERPs). What exactly is the helpful content update, and how can you ensure that your brand's website and pages are well-formatted for success within the context of it? Let's take a look at everything you need to know.
Launched near the end of August, 2022, and continuing to roll out into early September, Google's helpful content update created a new, site-wide "signal" that will be used for ranking pages: Whether content is "helpful" to the searcher in question. We'll go over how "helpful" is defined in a moment, but for now let's focus on the mechanisms involved.
When a given site is deemed to have high levels of unhelpful content by Google, all the content on that site will have a lower chance or ranking well -- not just the unhelpful content itself. Now, as long as the site owners take steps to improve said content and make it more helpful, they can improve their rankings back to their original levels, a process that may take a few months in most cases.
The update impacts all English searches around the globe, and Google has said it will likely build it out to include other languages in the future.
So how do you ensure your content is helpful and meets these guidelines? Our next couple sections will look into this.
A major emphasis within this update is content that's been created "by people, for people." This means that content should not be stuffed with keywords or other such devices meant to game the system, but rather it should be crafted and written in a way that's meant to appeal to actual human beings.
There are several areas to consider within this. Existing or intended audiences are a key factor, as is an ability to demonstrate specific knowledge within a given subject area. Creating content that's useful and informative, while avoiding clickbait tactics, is another critical aspect.
Another issue this update is meant to address is the growing number of marketers who have created content purely for Google's crawling algorithms, and not for actual human beings. The update prioritizes content that is not written purely for search engines, such as content produced using automation, content that only summarizes other sources without adding any real value of its own, and so on.
To that end, it's important to focus on creating quality content that will actually be useful to people who see it. This means writing original content that's actually based on the needs of your real-life target audiences, rather than just attempting to "game" the system.
For more on how to adhere to Google's new helpful content update, or to learn about any of our SEO or other online marketing services, contact us at SEO Werkz today!
Speed and load times are very important back-end factors within the SEO world, and major search engines like Google are regularly rolling out updates to improve processes here. One major such update that's recently been rolled out to all site types is known as Signed Exchange, or SXG -- what is this program, and how might it benefit your site?
At SEO Werkz, we're happy to help with a variety of SEO solutions, including in areas like on-site optimization and web design that help clients maximize the quality and responsiveness of their customer-facing websites. Let's go over everything you need to know about Signed Exchanges and how they work, the benefits they offer to sites across the web, and how to get started with them.
Originally introduced by Google primarily for AMP sites several years ago, Signed Exchanges have now become available for all sites across the web. Signed Exchange refers to an open standard delivery mechanism that allows users to access content directly from an origin server.
How does this work? A Signed Exchange doesn't actually store a copy of the requested resource on their servers, but when a user searches, Google pre-loads some of your content from the SXG. This improves speed and reduces load times by not transferring data over HTTP -- which is the most common way that web pages are currently served, but also one of the slowest.
While SXG is intended for high-quality sites that want to offer engaging search experiences to their users, there is also a lot that you can do as a developer to help improve the experience. If you think your site might benefit from implementing this new spec, we'd love to help!
Here are the basic steps that will be followed to generate a Signed Exchange for your site:
From here, the exchange will be cached and sent to the crawler, where it's eligible to show up in searches. When any web user clicks on a link to your content, they receive the Signed Exchange in a response from Google.
Now that you have a basic understanding of how SXGs work, let's talk about how publishers might benefit from implementing them within their websites. These benefits include:
The process of generating and maintaining Signed Exchanges is somewhat complex and reveals the benefits of working with a high-quality SEO company. Here are some of the considerations you have to keep in mind:
Like many other parts of the SEO world, especially with regard to Google's changing emphases, it's important to keep track of updates within the SXG realm. SEO marketers and in-depth business owners should consider signing up for the webpackaging-announce mailing list from Google themselves, which offers information on things like changes to the Google SXG cache, new capabilities being added (or older capabilities being depreciated), and even larger changes to SXG tools Web Packager, the NGINX SXG module, and several other areas. And as always, if you're working with us at SEO Werkz, we'll keep track of these updates on your behalf.
For more on Signed Exchange, or to learn about any of our other SEO services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
There are a few important back-end themes that play a major role in the success of a website within the SEO world, and one of the most well-known types here is known as meta data, or meta tags. Referring to small snippets of code that tell search engines vital information about your page, including how to display it in search results, meta is present on every single web page, visible in HTML code for search engine crawlers.
At SEO Werkz, our on-site SEO optimization services include a variety of meta data areas, from page titles and descriptions to headers and many others. What is meta data, how does it impact SEO, and what are the different types of meta tags to be aware of? Here's a primer.
As we mentioned above, meta tags are snippets of code on web pages that impact how those pages appear in search engine results. There are several different types of meta tags - page titles, descriptions, keywords (which Google introduced several years ago to discourage SEO professionals from stuffing their clients' pages with keywords), and various other snippets of code for particular plugins or widgets.
Google's use of meta data has changed over the years, and their algorithms for search engine rankings are constantly evolving. However, meta data is a key factor in SEO optimization and remains an important aspect of any website's overall success.
Meta tags only exist in HTML, meaning that they can't be seen by the average user. Instead, meta tags are visible only to search engine crawlers that pull data from your site and use it to help determine how your page should appear in search results.
Are you interested in seeing how your site's meta tags look in code form? You can find them by looking at the source code on your site. This is easily done by right-clicking anywhere on a given web page, then selecting "View Page Source."
Alternatively, some prefer using a plugin like Firebug for Firefox, which will pull up the HTML for any page you are on. You also can use and add your URL there to see its meta tag data in one place.
Our next several sections will go over some of the more important meta tag types to be aware of.
Likely the single most important piece of meta data on most sites is the title tag, which appears at the top of web browsers, or sometimes just as a "tab" if you use another browser like Opera. When someone searches for specific information on Google's search engine, or uses their mobile phone to do a voice-based search (like Siri), then that is what your page title appears as in results.
Page titles are typically set up by webmasters, but can also be set up at the WordPress dashboard level. Check your site's settings if you've recently changed your title tag and aren't seeing it reflected in search results (you'd change this in "General Settings").
For most sites, we use a formula of descriptive keywords for SEO purposes plus your business or brand name in order to create a search engine-friendly title tag for your web page.
Also known as meta descriptions, this is an area of code that appears underneath your site's URL in the first section of results on Google and other search engines. Descriptions are much like titles, except they can be longer (the limit for Google's search engine is 200 characters).
Meta descriptions are also an area where you can entice people to click through to your page. While there's no exact science for meta descriptions, we generally recommend using a formula similar to the one used for titles in order to get the most out of this important piece of code.
Meta Keywords are one type of meta tag that's used much less often today than it would have been a decade or so ago. They used to be more popular for "keyword stuffing" and similar efforts, but search engines have moved away from allowing these practices.
Meta keywords are set up as a list of words within the meta description tag, typically separated by commas. Speak to our team for more on whether they might have some value for your site, but don't be surprised if they don't.
Another vital piece of meta data is the H1 header, which is typically the biggest and most important on a web page. It appears as the first thing that someone might see if they look at your site without scrolling, so it's an opportunity for you to convey something of value in a single line with no internal code.
Generally speaking, the H1 header will be the title of a post, or some other emphasized text on the page. It's not the same as the title tag, which is the entire title in your page source and what people will see at the top of their browser (or just as a tab on mobile browsers).
For SEO purposes, we recommend using keywords for H1 headers whenever possible, but ensure that they are equivalent to clear value-adds. It's not recommended to write an H1 header simply with random keywords. Writing proper H1 headers for your most popular pages is one of the key factors in drawing in good organic search engine traffic, and it's something our staff will work with you on.
For more on the various meta tags present in SEO, or to learn about any of our on-site or other SEO services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
There are a number of metrics that may play a role in your business’s SEO and online marketing efforts, and one of these for many is known as bounce rate. And while this metric can be very important and meaningful in some settings, there are also others where it is regularly misunderstood or misused.
At SEO Werkz, we’re here to help prevent these issues for all our clients. Through SEO services like conversion rate optimization and many others, we’re able to help you understand the percentage of visitors to your site who take given actions, plus what you can do to improve certain areas here and direct visitors to the ideal conversion locations. What exactly is bounce rate, what are some similar metrics that may be used in related situations, and what are both the proper and incorrect conclusions to draw from these metrics? Here’s a primer.
Firstly, let’s define both bounce rate and some other similar metrics you may also see:
Now, it’s important to note that technically speaking, bounce rate is not a Google Analytics metric. Google does not consider it reliable enough for this, largely because it can be manipulated in some situations.
That said, it can still hold important value for those who understand it and are able to draw the right insights from it. In some cases, for instance, it might indicate that your keywords and page content don’t quite match one another, or that your general page purpose isn’t properly aligned.
One other general theme to be aware of: Beware of anyone who refers to bounce rate as universally good or bad, because it’s neither. While most e-commerce sites do want to limit bounce rate for their main product pages, there are plenty of site types where bounce rate is highly desirable – think about informational pages, for instance, or some landing pages on your site may qualify as well. There are certain settings where optimizing against bounce rates might actually be lowering site quality, and this is why it’s important to work with pros who understand this realm.
Here are some of the specific areas where tracking bounce rate and related metrics can be quite useful:
On the flip side, there are some areas we generally recommend against when it comes to utilizing bounce rate and similar metrics:
For more on bounce rate and related metrics in the SEO and online marketing world, or to learn about any of our web design, CRO, retargeting or other digital marketing services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
At SEO Werkz, we’re here to not only provide quality SEO and related online marketing services, but also to help educate our clients and others in the industry on this vital field. Search engine optimization and related solutions are vital for many businesses, and having a broad understanding of various concepts within this world pays even if you aren’t a dedicated SEO professional.
Recently, Chris Siebeneck, our Vice President of Strategic Partners, appeared on the Big Brand Theory Podcast to discuss the wide world of SEO. The broad question Chris was asked as part of her appearance: Are companies doing their SEO correctly in 2021, and how can you tell if yours is well-planned? Here’s some expanded detail on a few of the areas she discussed in response to this general query, plus how you can apply these basic themes to your company’s online marketing efforts.
First and foremost, the legwork of improving a site’s SEO involves work being completed in several different distinct areas. A few examples include:
Next up on the checklist once you’re confident the proper work is being done: That work translating into visible ranking changes on your site. These might not come the very next day after you institute SEO alterations, to be clear, but over a period of time as you implement various techniques, you should begin to notice improvements. While progress here is never necessarily linear, our team will guide you and regularly advise you on realistic expectations for ranking improvements.
And finally, are your rankings changes translating into increased traffic and eventual sales conversions? This is the final major piece of the puzzle here, one that might involve several different techniques. One such technique is conversion rate optimization, or CRO, which is a gigantic feature aimed at helping you understand the percentage of visitors to your site who take certain actions and optimize the site to improve conversions based on this data.
For more on Chris’s appearance on the Big Brand Theory Podcast, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC, web design or related services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some basics on the upcoming Google page experience update. First announced in May of 2020, this update is targeted directly at prioritizing sites and pages with great user experience, from loading speed to several other areas.
At SEO Werkz, we offer a wide range of white hat SEO services, including on-site optimization areas that are often heavily impacted by Google updates and changes to their algorithm – areas our pros are highly experienced in, and in which we stand out from the competition in several ways. Today’s part two of our series will go over how we expect this upcoming update to impact SEO efforts, plus how online marketers should be preparing themselves.
For many in the SEO world, this update is being met with great relief. Many have long had issues with the way current page speed and related metrics are factored into overall Google metrics, including issues with how Google even tracks speed to begin with.
The page experience update, at least from what’s known about it so far, should change much of this. In part one, we mentioned Largest Contentful Point as one of the top metrics within Core Web Vitals – early indications are that this metric is far more useful than the previous First Contentful Point metric that Google used. The same goes for the other Core Web Vitals that are being infused into this update, each of which provides upgrades from previous page experience metrics that Google used. From click delays to loading speed and several other issues, expect your page experience capabilities to increase significantly in both scope and efficiency.
Like with any other Google update, you should respond appropriately – but not go over the top. Some areas to keep an eye on, which are similar to those you should always have in mind:
Finally, while we’ve spent this series going over all the facets of this upcoming update, it’s vital to realize that it’s not the only relevant metric. Google will still prioritize many of the same factors it always has, including quality content and other site optimization themes – these are not going anywhere. While you should definitely pay close attention to page experience metrics that will take on greater importance, do not do this at the expense of other qualities of your site.
For more on how to prepare for Google’s page experience update, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC or other services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
In late May of 2020, Google announced that they would soon be making a major update on ranking signals surrounding page experience. Due to both the pandemic and other issues, the rollout of this update was delayed – it has not yet hit, but is expected within the next few months in 2021.
At SEO Werkz, our comprehensive SEO services include numerous areas, from on-site optimization to link-building, conversion rate optimization and much more – and reacting and responding to major Google updates is among our specialties. We’re here to help all our clients prepare for this update and ensure they’re in the right position once it hits. This two-part blog series will go over all the basics you need to know about this impending update, what you should be doing on your site (specifically your Core Web Vitals), and more.
Per Google’s announcement, the new page experience update will refer to a full set of ranking signals, particularly those featured in its Core Web Vitals series (more on this in a moment). Within this, several of Google’s webmaster tools will be incorporated, along with other existing search signals like mobile-friendliness, HTTPS and more.
Put simply: This update will do even more to meet Google’s goal of promoting sites that provide great user experience. Page experience will not be the end-all metric for Google, and other factors will still play a role, but this update signals a major nod to user experience as a key factor.
As we noted above, there’s a direct connection here with Google’s Core Web Vitals, which were recently added to the Google Search Console. There are three Core Web Vitals metrics:
In many ways, these metrics are replacing older metrics like “Time to First Byte†and “First Contentful Paint.â€
In addition, Google announced that AMP – short for Accelerated Mobile Pages – will no longer be required for Top Stories so long as the page has good page experience metrics. This doesn’t necessarily mean that those who utilize AMP are completely out of luck; Google is clearly just prioritizing page loading speed, whether it’s through AMP or the new update.
For more on how to prepare your site for Google’s upcoming page experience update, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC, web design or other online marketing services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the basics on website backlinks and how they work within the digital marketing world. Referring to links from other sites that are relevant for several reasons, from rankings to referral traffic and more, backlinks are one of the top themes SEO experts will be looking at to help improve site performance.
At SEO Werkz, we’re happy to provide a comprehensive range of private label SEO services, including off-site optimization and link-building among several others. While much of part one of our series went over the definition and importance of backlinks, today’s part two will dig into the qualities that make up a good backlink.
Authority is always a major factor in the SEO world, one that Google and other search engines prioritize when ranking sites. And generally speaking, backlinks that come from strong web pages will transfer more “authority†to their partner than those that come from weaker or less legitimate web pages.
Why does this matter? Because there’s a direct connection between page authority and organic traffic. This isn’t necessarily a linear connection, as Google has complex algorithms looking at authority, the number of links on a given page, and several other factors. But in the long run, if you link from high-quality pages, your authority will be strong.
Another major variable for Google and search engines is relevance, which refers to the likelihood that common visitors to a site will click on them. As a very basic example, if you run an HVAC company but have backlinks for hardwood flooring services on your site, these will not be considered relevant whatsoever by Google. That’s obviously a bit of an extreme example, but a key factor in creating good backlinks is ensuring they’re directly relevant to your site and its products or services offered.
Do your backlinks come from high-traffic pages? If so, they’re more likely to send you more referral traffic. In addition, there’s a small correlation between overall rankings and backlinks from pages with high levels of organic search traffic, though this factor is not as important as the volume of backlinks from unique sites.
There are a few other variables that make up a good backlink:
For more on backlinks in SEO and online marketing, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC or other digital marketing services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
There are several specific elements of online marketing efforts that must be kept in mind, and backlinks are one great example. Referring to links from one website to another, backlinks are a huge part of any SEO effort, assisting with not only rankings but also site discoverability and referral traffic across numerous industries and brands.
At SEO Werkz, we’re happy to provide comprehensive SEO services for a variety of clients, including link-building and related off-site optimization areas. What exactly are backlinks, why do they matter within the realm of SEO, and how can you both understand and improve your backlink quality and quantity for your site? This two-part blog series will go over several important themes related to website backlinks.
As we noted above, a backlink for a website refers to any link from one specific website to another. Technically, a backlink refers to any web resource – this is usually a website in most cases, but can also be a web page or a web directory.
In essence, the backlink serves as a form of citation for a site or page. If Google and other search engines see multiple quality backlinks to your site from reputable, authoritative sites, this will improve the way they evaluate your page’s importance and ranking quality. Google’s PageRank metric involves several different areas, one of which is how well pages connect and the quality level of their backlinks.
You may hear backlinks referred to by several other terms that are mostly covering the same thing: Incoming link, inbound link, citation, inlink or inward link. Unless specified otherwise, these all have the same definition as a standard backlink.
There are a few specific reasons why backlinks matter within SEO and digital marketing. Three qualities stand out from the rest:
For more on how backlinks work in the internet marketing world, or to learn about any of our SEO, PPC, web design or other marketing services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the basic differences between direct and organic website traffic. These are two opposing forms of traffic within the digital marketing world, with organic search results generally serving as the more desirable for several reasons – but understanding why this is the case, and how to target these results, is often the name of the game.
At SEO Werkz, many of our white label SEO services relate directly to improving your organic search results, from local optimization themes to CRO, retargeting and numerous others. In today’s part two of our series, we’ll go over examples of direct traffic and how they can be converted into organic formats, plus why SEO is so vital for generating organic traffic and the importance of website security within this realm.
There are several causes of direct traffic to your site, plus simple ways you can convert some or all of this traffic into organic results:
How do you improve organic traffic? By increasing your SEO quality, first and foremost. This involves developing quality content and pages, plus a list of long tail keywords used within your pages. Some other general techniques here:
We noted the importance of website security above. Ideally, all your pages should be under the HTTPS designation, which refers to secure sites that can be tracked properly by Google. In many cases, non-secure sites will not be tracked correctly, creating false data.
For more on the difference between organic and direct traffic, or to learn about how to maximize organic search results, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.
