SEO

Google’s John Mueller Seeks Advice On Hiring SEO Consultants

Published

11 months ago

June 6, 2023

Google's John Mueller Seeks Advice On Hiring SEO Consultants

Google Search Advocate, John Mueller, has turned to Twitter seeking advice on what to consider when hiring an SEO consultant.

He posed the question on behalf of someone running an animal park, indicating the need for a local SEO consultant to enhance their online presence.

“Does anyone have recommendations in terms of people/companies & things to watch out for when picking one?” Mueller asked in his tweet, “How do you separate the serious from the less-serious folks?”

Here’s a look into the ensuing conversation, including a range of insights into what you should look for when hiring SEO professionals.

Cost Considerations In SEO Consultancy

One of the replies to Mueller’s tweet highlighted the cost-sensitive nature of SEO consultancy.

Kris Roadruck emphasized that most low-budget local SEO services, charging below $1000 per month, are “chop-shops” offering minimal service.

He claims these services follow a generic formula and warned that’s the level of quality businesses can expect unless they expand their budget.

Roadruck states:

“This is unfortunately budget-sensitive. Nearly all the folks that do low-budget local SEO (Sub $1000/mo) are chop-shops doing very little indeed and just following a generic formula performed by underpaid folks. Sadly this is the price range most local companies can afford unless they are attorneys, dentists, or some other high value service based biz.”

“This is painfully true,” reads a reply to his tweet.

Look For Experienced SEO Agencies

Isaline Muelhauser responded to Mueller’s tweet by suggesting that a local agency could be a helpful resource.

She highlights the advantages of working with an agency that operates in the same area as the business requiring local SEO services:

“Chose someone who’s experimented in local SEO and understands the local market.
E.g. for Local SEO we manage multilingualism and often low [monthly search volume].
The animal park owner should feel that their business is understood not receive a general pitch deck.”

To that end, it helps to ensure the agency you hire is familiar with the tools of the trade.

An individual who goes by the handle SEOGoddess on Twitter states:

“If the local SEO company knows what @yext or @RenderSeo is then that’s the first step in trusting they know what they’re doing. From there it’s a matter of drafting up a good strategy and knowing how to help execute on it.”

Insights From The Twitter Exchange

The Twitter thread sparked a variety of responses. However, these key topics were left unexplored:

Specific criteria or red flags to watch out for when evaluating potential SEO consultants.
Concrete examples or case studies demonstrating successful SEO strategies (bonus points for businesses like an animal park.

To address these gaps, let’s look at a successful SEO strategy for a local business dealing with animals.

The most relevant case study I could find is from Step 5 Creative, who performed local SEO services for Deer Grove Animal Hospital in Illinois.

This case study shows what’s involved in a comprehensive SEO approach and what you should expect from an experienced agency.

Takeaways From A Successful SEO Strategy

The first step in Step 5’s SEO campaign was a thorough onboarding process, which included the following:

Creating meta titles and descriptions
Conducting a URL audit
Ensuring a mobile-friendly site
Setting up proper page structures
Internal navigation audit
Implementing local business structured data.

The above steps aim to improve a site’s visibility to human visitors and search engine bots.

Step 5’s strategy also involved ensuring the business was listed in local online directories and had a complete Google Business Profile.

Keyword reassessment was another crucial step. The team monitored clickthroughs and positions for targeted keywords and adjusted their strategy accordingly.

The team conducted extensive keyword research, experimenting with different variations of keywords to see which yielded better results.

Reviewing the animal hospital’s traffic acquisition report and bounce rate helped the Step 5 Creative team understand where visitors came from and how they interacted with the site. This information allowed them to improve the user experience and encourage better traffic flow.

Lastly, the team underscores the need for continual updates for long-term success. This refers to the earlier point of working with an SEO consultant committed to staying current with best practices.

Criteria & Red Flags in SEO Consultancy

In the complex world of SEO, it’s essential to differentiate between “serious” and “less-serious” consultants.

Serious consultants are invested in understanding your business, industry, and specific needs.

In contrast, less-serious consultants might offer generic services not catering to your unique requirements.

Here are additional criteria to consider and red flags to watch for when hiring an SEO professional:

Customized Strategy: A serious SEO consultant will take the time to understand your business, its goals, and its challenges and design a tailored SEO strategy accordingly.
- A consultant offering a one-size-fits-all solution without understanding your needs could be a red flag.
Transparency: Reputable SEO consultants will be open about their methods and strategies and able to explain them in terms you understand.
- Beware of consultants who promise immediate results or use jargon to confuse you.
Track Record: Look for consultants with a proven track record of success. They should be able to provide case studies or references from previous clients.
- Consider this a red flag if a consultant is unwilling or unable to provide evidence of their success.
Continual Learning: SEO is a constantly changing field. Serious consultants will stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and algorithm changes.
- Be cautious of consultants who rely on outdated practices.
Ethical Practices: A serious SEO consultant adheres to ethical SEO practices, often called “White Hat SEO.”
- Avoid consultants who suggest or employ unethical practices, known as “Black Hat SEO,” such as keyword stuffing or hidden text.

In Summary

The Twitter conversation initiated by Google’s John Mueller provided valuable insights into what to consider when choosing an SEO professional.

Cost shouldn’t be the sole factor, as low-budget services often deliver minimal results.

Instead, prioritize experienced SEO agencies that understand the local market and have a track record of success.

Look for consultants knowledgeable about industry tools who can develop a customized strategy tailored to your business’s needs.

Other essential factors include transparency, a proven track record, continual learning, and adherence to ethical practices.

By following these guidelines, you can make an informed decision when hiring an SEO consultant that will help your business thrive in the digital landscape.

Featured image generated by the author using Midjourney.

Related Topics:advice Consultants Googles Hiring John Mueller Seeks seo

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SEO

Google March 2024 Core Update Officially Completed A Week Ago

Published

16 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Max

Google has officially completed its March 2024 Core Update, ending over a month of ranking volatility across the web.

However, Google didn’t confirm the rollout’s conclusion on its data anomaly page until April 26—a whole week after the update was completed on April 19.

Many in the SEO community had been speculating for days about whether the turbulent update had wrapped up.

The delayed transparency exemplifies Google’s communication issues with publishers and the need for clarity during core updates

Google March 2024 Core Update Timeline & Status

First announced on March 5, the core algorithm update is complete as of April 19. It took 45 days to complete.

Unlike more routine core refreshes, Google warned this one was more complex.

Google’s documentation reads:

“As this is a complex update, the rollout may take up to a month. It’s likely there will be more fluctuations in rankings than with a regular core update, as different systems get fully updated and reinforce each other.”

The aftershocks were tangible, with some websites reporting losses of over 60% of their organic search traffic, according to data from industry observers.

The ripple effects also led to the deindexing of hundreds of sites that were allegedly violating Google’s guidelines.

Addressing Manipulation Attempts

In its official guidance, Google highlighted the criteria it looks for when targeting link spam and manipulation attempts:

Creating “low-value content” purely to garner manipulative links and inflate rankings.
Links intended to boost sites’ rankings artificially, including manipulative outgoing links.
The “repurposing” of expired domains with radically different content to game search visibility.

The updated guidelines warn:

“Any links that are intended to manipulate rankings in Google Search results may be considered link spam. This includes any behavior that manipulates links to your site or outgoing links from your site.”

John Mueller, a Search Advocate at Google, responded to the turbulence by advising publishers not to make rash changes while the core update was ongoing.

However, he suggested sites could proactively fix issues like unnatural paid links.

Mueller stated on Reddit:

“If you have noticed things that are worth improving on your site, I’d go ahead and get things done. The idea is not to make changes just for search engines, right? Your users will be happy if you can make things better even if search engines haven’t updated their view of your site yet.”

Emphasizing Quality Over Links

The core update made notable changes to how Google ranks websites.

Most significantly, Google reduced the importance of links in determining a website’s ranking.

In contrast to the description of links as “an important factor in determining relevancy,” Google’s updated spam policies stripped away the “important” designation, simply calling links “a factor.”

This change aligns with Google’s Gary Illyes’ statements that links aren’t among the top three most influential ranking signals.

Instead, Google is giving more weight to quality, credibility, and substantive content.

Consequently, long-running campaigns favoring low-quality link acquisition and keyword optimizations have been demoted.

With the update complete, SEOs and publishers are left to audit their strategies and websites to ensure alignment with Google’s new perspective on ranking.

Core Update Feedback

Google has opened a ranking feedback form related to this core update.

You can use this form until May 31 to provide feedback to Google’s Search team about any issues noticed after the core update.

While the feedback provided won’t be used to make changes for specific queries or websites, Google says it may help inform general improvements to its search ranking systems for future updates.

Google also updated its help documentation on “Debugging drops in Google Search traffic” to help people understand ranking changes after a core update.

Featured Image: Rohit-Tripathi/Shutterstock

FAQ

After the update, what steps should websites take to align with Google’s new ranking criteria?

After Google’s March 2024 Core Update, websites should:

Improve the quality, trustworthiness, and depth of their website content.
Stop heavily focusing on getting as many links as possible and prioritize relevant, high-quality links instead.
Fix any shady or spam-like SEO tactics on their sites.
Carefully review their SEO strategies to ensure they follow Google’s new guidelines.

SEO

Google Declares It The “Gemini Era” As Revenue Grows 15%

Published

2 days ago

April 26, 2024

Max

Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, announced its first quarter 2024 financial results today.

While Google reported double-digit growth in key revenue areas, the focus was on its AI developments, dubbed the “Gemini era” by CEO Sundar Pichai.

The Numbers: 15% Revenue Growth, Operating Margins Expand

Alphabet reported Q1 revenues of $80.5 billion, a 15% increase year-over-year, exceeding Wall Street’s projections.

Net income was $23.7 billion, with diluted earnings per share of $1.89. Operating margins expanded to 32%, up from 25% in the prior year.

Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s President and CFO, stated:

“Our strong financial results reflect revenue strength across the company and ongoing efforts to durably reengineer our cost base.”

Google’s core advertising units, such as Search and YouTube, drove growth. Google advertising revenues hit $61.7 billion for the quarter.

The Cloud division also maintained momentum, with revenues of $9.6 billion, up 28% year-over-year.

Pichai highlighted that YouTube and Cloud are expected to exit 2024 at a combined $100 billion annual revenue run rate.

Generative AI Integration in Search

Google experimented with AI-powered features in Search Labs before recently introducing AI overviews into the main search results page.

Regarding the gradual rollout, Pichai states:

“We are being measured in how we do this, focusing on areas where gen AI can improve the Search experience, while also prioritizing traffic to websites and merchants.”

Pichai reports that Google’s generative AI features have answered over a billion queries already:

“We’ve already served billions of queries with our generative AI features. It’s enabling people to access new information, to ask questions in new ways, and to ask more complex questions.”

Google reports increased Search usage and user satisfaction among those interacting with the new AI overview results.

The company also highlighted its “Circle to Search” feature on Android, which allows users to circle objects on their screen or in videos to get instant AI-powered answers via Google Lens.

Reorganizing For The “Gemini Era”

As part of the AI roadmap, Alphabet is consolidating all teams building AI models under the Google DeepMind umbrella.

Pichai revealed that, through hardware and software improvements, the company has reduced machine costs associated with its generative AI search results by 80% over the past year.

He states:

“Our data centers are some of the most high-performing, secure, reliable and efficient in the world. We’ve developed new AI models and algorithms that are more than one hundred times more efficient than they were 18 months ago.

How Will Google Make Money With AI?

Alphabet sees opportunities to monetize AI through its advertising products, Cloud offerings, and subscription services.

Google is integrating Gemini into ad products like Performance Max. The company’s Cloud division is bringing “the best of Google AI” to enterprise customers worldwide.

Google One, the company’s subscription service, surpassed 100 million paid subscribers in Q1 and introduced a new premium plan featuring advanced generative AI capabilities powered by Gemini models.

Future Outlook

Pichai outlined six key advantages positioning Alphabet to lead the “next wave of AI innovation”:

Research leadership in AI breakthroughs like the multimodal Gemini model
Robust AI infrastructure and custom TPU chips
Integrating generative AI into Search to enhance the user experience
A global product footprint reaching billions
Streamlined teams and improved execution velocity
Multiple revenue streams to monetize AI through advertising and cloud

With upcoming events like Google I/O and Google Marketing Live, the company is expected to share further updates on its AI initiatives and product roadmap.

Featured Image: Sergei Elagin/Shutterstock

SEO

brightonSEO Live Blog

Published

2 days ago

April 25, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of ~~sun~~, sea, and SEO!

Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.

Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary.