Dive into the latest SEO trends: Google’s cache link removal, correlations between website features and algorithm updates, impact of Negative LSA, AI-generated content preferences, and tips to resolve common SEO issues. Stay informed and navigate the digital landscape with expert insights and practical advice.
Show Notes:
Google Search Drops Cache Link from Search Results
Can still view cache:
- Use “Cache:xyzname.com” search in Google
- Check in Google Search Console:
- Inspect URL
- Click on “View Crawled Page” to see HTML at crawl time
Web Archives Extension:
- Chrome extension
- Firefox add-on
- Safari
- Archives for Google, Bing, Yahoo, Wayback Machine, and others
SEO News
Google Updates:
- Zyppy report on Google Algorithm updates (August to December 2023):
- Small sample size (50 sites)
- Correlation between site features and winning/losing after updates
Winners:
- First-hand experience demonstration
- Usage of first person pronouns
- Display of contact information
- Display of cookie consent banner
Losers
- Use of fixed ads in footer
- Use of fixed auto-play video ads
- Use of stock imagery
- Use of push notifications
- Missing or hidden logo
- No contact information
- Presence of Affiliate Links
- Usage of a “mega menu”
- Search function in footer
- Presence of large navigational menu at the top of website
- Link to a privacy page
- Impact strongest when multiple features combined
Negative LSA (Local Service Ads):
- Issue reported by Ben Fisher on Twitter
- Google removed ads due to two LSA accounts linked to one Google Business Profile
- No credentials for the unknown account
- Google support suggested creating a new profile, losing reviews
How Google is killing independent sites like ours:
- Response from Danny Sullivan regarding concerns on diversity of search results
- Google aims to reward best content regardless of site size
Local SEO
- Google Business Profile Images:
- Benefits of User Generated Images
- How to Get Images Removed
AI in Search
- OpenAI Working on Web Search Product
- Powered by Microsoft Bing
- OpenAI’s web crawler: GPTBot
- Humans prefer AI-generated copy, survey finds
- Survey results on preference for AI-generated content
Questions & Comments
- Screaming Frog Issue:
- Pages showing both 200 OK and 404 Not found statuses
- Reason: trailing “%0A” in URLs causing URL break
- ScreamingFrog not displaying this, causing confusion
- Fix: Correcting links at their source
Sources:
Google Search Drops Cache Link from Search Results – Learn about Google’s removal of the cache link from search results and alternative methods to access cached pages.
Web Archives Extension (Chrome) – Access historical data from various search engines with this Chrome extension.
Web Archives Extension (Firefox) – Explore historical data from search engines with this Firefox add-on.
Web Archives Extension – Access historical data from search engines using this Safari app.
Google Algorithm Updates Report by Zyppy – Delve into correlations between website features and performance after Google Algorithm updates in this insightful report by Zyppy.
Negative LSA Impact Report – Explore the impact of Negative LSA (Local Service Ads) on businesses in this detailed report by Bill Hartzer.
Survey on AI-generated Content Preferences – Gain insights from a survey on consumer preferences for AI-generated content versus human-generated content in this comprehensive report.
OpenAI Web Search Product Announcement – Learn about OpenAI’s development of a web search product powered by Microsoft Bing in this announcement.
Danny Sullivan’s Response – Explore Danny Sullivan’s response addressing concerns about search result diversity and independent websites.