Prepare for the future of SEO & 24 ways to use AI

Pro Snippet "Whilst we wait for the November Core Update to sink in, there's an unintentional theme in using AI but using it right in this edition, with an all-star cast of authors wading in on the topic. Meanwhile, Apple and Google are both presenting new opportunities in local search." - Tom Capper, Senior Search Scientist, Moz What We're Reading:   24 Ways I'm Using AI Tools for SEO Mike King wants to help you cut through the noise and find AI tools that are actually useful for SEO. "AI tools thrive under strategic direction—use them to improve your work, not replace you". What if schema.org Is Just… Labels? We've been hearing for about a decade now about how structured data markup is going to transform how Google understands entities and content. And yet, their actual use of it is still very limited - why is that? How to Prepare for the Future of SEO: 17 Tips From Lily Ray Lily Ray shares her thoughts on Google's myriad of moves through 2024, and how they might play out for SEOs in 2025, and how to prepare. Publishers Hooked on Google Discover Traffic Risk Race to the Bottom News SEO guru Barry Adams has a cautionary tale for publishers suffering from a toxic dependence on the highly addictive substance that is Google Discover traffic. How To Create Helpful Content Post-HCU The Helpful Content Update may be about more than just helpful content, but that doesn't mean that helpful content isn't absolutely essential in SEO in 2024 and beyond. "Both search engines and readers can distinguish between helpful and filler content", cautions Maryann Muthami. Crossovers Between Information Architecture & SEO — With Inspiration From the Home Edit When SEOs think of IA (information architecture), often the conversation quickly becomes focused on links and PageRank. But there's more that we should be interested in within this discipline. How To Do Comprehensive Research for Your Topic Cluster — Whiteboard Friday Chima walks through what you can do before, during, and after your research process to ensure you're creating elevated and relevant content within your topic clusters. The Value of a Human Connection in an Increasingly AI World: Local Link Building That Lasts For local linkbuilding, nothing trumps relevance, and nothing generates relevance like human connection, says Ellen Sartin. Siri Finally Gets Local Search Depending on your viewpoint, Apple is either the sleeping giant of search or already a huge player. Either way, local is no exception. Google Maps Launches Product Search: Steps For Retailers Why search the web when you can search physical products in your area? Matt G. Southern has the essential info.         Products  |   Learn  |   Community  |   Blog  |   About . Moz, 720 Robson St, 400  Vancouver, BC V6Z 1A1 Canada You received this email because you are subscribed to The Moz Top 10 newsletter from Moz. Update your email preferences.  Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Google Creators Summit & Death of Originality

Pro Snippet "Google's incredibly controversial and officially-but-not-really-deprecated HCU (Helpful Content Update) is still looming large in SEO industry discourse, and their decision to host a summit for affected small sites in Mountain View, California has arguably only added fuel to the fire. It still looks unlikely that we'll see any actual corrective action in the near future." - Tom Capper, Senior Search Scientist, Moz What We're Reading:   Announcing MozBar V4 - A New Era for Moz's SEO Browser Extension Moz's browser extension has been a hugely popular way to see SEO metrics and data at a glance for over 16 years (!), and this largest ever update propels it into 2024, aligning with some of the new features (and the new look) that Moz Pro has acquired in the last couple of years. I Drank the Kool-Aid at the 2024 Google Web Creator Summit Google invited a number of HCU-decimated small site owners to their offices in October, to decidedly mixed reviews. Mike Hardaker shares a thorough account of his experience here. I Attended Google's Creator Conversation Event, And It Turned Into A Funeral Not everyone present took as conciliatory a tone - this account from Joshua Tyler is not talking about his own demise, but Google's. Google and the Death of Originality And lastly on this topic, Joe Youngblood has a great longform piece on what could actually be happening at Google, and what meaning we should extract from their cryptic messages. This is a somewhat speculative piece, but nonetheless a fascinating read. How To Write Your Content So People Read It Now for something totally different - "Human Content Always Wins" says Vicki Thomas, and this piece explains what she means and how to go about it. A Nightmare on Affiliate Street Glenn Gabe documents the total anihilation of a number of affiliate sites in the last couple of months, and Google's insistence that this is not in fact their Site Reputation Abuse policy at work. Google's AI Fails At 43% Of Finance Queries, Study Finds With a headline that unfortunately very few of us will be shocked by, this study is a timely reminder that Google's AI Overviews are still not living up to the promise, over 18 months after we were first unpleasantly surprised by "SGEs". Way-Too-Early Thoughts on SearchGPT for Local Search OpenAI's search engine is now walking among us. Many are commenting that it's Bing in disguise or wondering what to make of the new bot & user-agent, but David Mihm has another angle here, looking at the possible impact on local search. How To Pick the Right Google Business Profile Categories This is a simple guide to a common Local SEO problem - picking the right categories for your business. Healthcare Reserve with Google Mayhem "Reserve with Google" appears to be moving into healthcare, but providers can take steps to avoid the chaos that unapproved booking agents may deliver.       Products  |   Learn  |   Community  |   Blog  |   About . Moz, 720 Robson St, 400  Vancouver, BC V6Z 1A1 Canada You received this email because you are subscribed to The Moz Top 10 newsletter from Moz. Update your email preferences.  Unsubscribe from all future emails.