SEO

I Did the Scary Thing, and WOW!

Published

7 months ago

September 26, 2023

I decided to do something scary and counterintuitive last week. Something so unheard of, that some business owners would think I was crazy.

And I may totally regret this…

But first, some backstory…

Over the last fifteen years, my focus has been on large, corporate brands (for instance, AAA was a client.) I loved digging into complex stakeholder and process issues, creating out-of-the-box solutions, and helping their writing teams thrive.

Heck, one AAA travel division saw a huge bump in traffic after my training — and this was DURING THE PANDEMIC when people weren’t traveling.

It was so much fun, and I loved it…

…Until I realized something was eating at my soul.

I come from a small business owner background. I watched my parents stress over their bed and bath store (RIP, Bedcetra,) trying to sell products and figure out a business.

It was a lot — and this was before Google. I’m 100 percent sure my mother’s aneurysm death was due to business stress.

I was just 20 when it happened.

Today, business owners — whether they have an office or live strictly online — have it even harder than my mom ever did.

They don’t have time to figure out the latest Google changes.

They don’t have time to figure out what to write about.

They don’t have time to coach themselves and get their mindset right.

So, they pay a LOT of money to so-so firms to help them.

One friend pays $4,500 a month for one blog post that looks like it was written by ChatGPT, plus a few random social posts.

When I ask about performance or a content strategy, my friend gives me a blank look. It’s so bad, her blog posts aren’t even attributed to her — and she’s one of the top experts in the nation. Her stupid SEO/branding company shows them as written by “Staff.”

Yeah, that’s not good for her, Google, readers — or anyone.

And this kind of &#%@ is NORMAL.

Plus, there are so many companies (maybe even you) that need only a few hours of help every month.

They don’t want to (or can’t afford to) get stuck in a long-term retainer contract. They need flexibility and affordability.

(Maybe that sounds familiar.)

This hit close to home when I was chatting with someone about my Slow Branding package. It’s a $5K+ package that offers all sorts of customized help — basically, I ignore the clock and work with someone whenever and however they need me.

It’s great for a seasoned professional who can invest time and income. It’s not so great for someone who isn’t making bigger money yet.

This person is smart and motivated. Yet, she’s at the beginning of her freelance career, so $5K is more than she could do right now. And I get it — even if I know I could accelerate her learning curve so much.

And I won’t suggest people “put it on their credit card and consider it an investment.” Yes, in-depth coaching can be transformative. But that’s a big expense when money is a stressor.

Although she could have worked with me hourly, the investment — especially at that level — would add up fast. For her, the math didn’t make sense.

That’s when the wheels started turning…

Between that experience, trying to help my friend shave down her $4,500/month spend, wanting to help an integrative medicine clinic that’s doing amazing work with ketamine-assisted therapy, and thinking about what makes me happiest, I realized my soul was at a crossroads.

I can continue to charge high consulting prices and only work with large corporations — and figure small/medium businesses aren’t my market.

Basically, do what I’ve always done — even if it doesn’t fill my soul.

And let’s face it: This is the time in my career when I can make that money. Many OG SEOs charge $750+ an hour. One charges $5K a month just for access to his brain with no guaranteed hours.

Or…

I could do the scary thing, slice my hourly rate by more than half, and help smaller businesses and solopreneurs who need it.

So I’m doing the scary thing.

And OMG, it’s scary — especially since most “experts” would tell you to (1) never work hourly, (2) never discount your prices, and (3) always require a retainer.

At the same time, I think about my favorite clients back in the day, who were all paying around $299/hr for consulting, writing, coaching — all the things.

I became an embedded part of their businesses and worked with them for a few hours every month.
I felt like I was helping friends, so their successes became my successes.
I was able to help more freelance writers and solopreneurs
I felt more respect. (I’ll never forget the big-brand client who basically said, “Sorry your cat is dying, but we’ll want our money back if you postpone the training.”)
I felt happier and more integrated.

In fact, when I told my husband about my decision this morning, he reminded me that I was happiest when working with smaller clients. Larger clients may be cool for my checking account, but that’s not where my heart is right now.

(As a side note, I know I could do both — but I’ve been saying that for years, and that hasn’t been my reality. When I go in, I go ALL IN. And that means focusing on one target market — small businesses.)

So here’s where I’ve landed — and I’m trying this as a one-month experiment.

New clients can work with me for $299/hr (This doesn’t include my Slow Branding training package or customized trainings with all the things. Those are more intensive engagements that require more Heather time.)
I’m starting with limited a block of $299 hours to see how things go.
You can purchase one hour or a block of time that I’ll reserve for you (which is best for ongoing work, including coaching, sales page writing, or content consulting.) The time is yours.

Here’s the link if you want to schedule one hour.

Contact me if you want to reserve more of my time.

If you’re unsure how much time something will take, hit “reply” and ask. I can’t (and won’t) write a sales page in one hour, but I can give you a time estimate.
If you need me to review something prior to a call, cool — but that means less time on the phone. Hourly rates are, well, by the hour. The more time I have, the more feedback I can provide.
If you want to work out a deal where we’re working X hours a month, every month, cool. (For instance, if you need weekly coaching or have a copywriting project.) Hit “reply” to this note, and we can work it out.

Oh, and for the folks who say $299/hour isn’t small business-friendly — I can spot stuff in 30 seconds that it takes people with less experience days to discover. If you can find your answer on YouTube, Google, or TikTok, go for it. I do that too!

But…if you want an expert pouring over your site and making suggestions — you’ll want to chat with me.

Why is this just a one-month experiment?

Because I may learn something new that bounces me in a different direction and feeds my soul in a different way.

I may find my idea isn’t as fun as I had hoped.

I may find that people don’t care, and nobody signs up — even with a one-month sense of urgency deadline.

I may find this idea pulls me away from creating training courses, which I also love.

I don’t know what I don’t know.

And that’s the point. I can keep doing what I’ve been doing, and feel so-so happy (and not particularly fulfilled.)

Or I can try something new and see what shakes out.

Wait! Won’t I take a financial hit for this?

Probably yes. Especially at the beginning.

I’d love to say that I was totally Zen about possibly “losing” money during a time when expenses are through the roof (sick kitties are expensive.)

Still, there are two things that make me feel like I’m on the right path:

It’s more important for me to feel happy and fulfilled. When I dislike what I do, no amount of cash makes me smile. Which is why I never went the agency route — I knew I’d make bunches of cash and hate it the entire time.
I’ve learned that taking a step back can sometimes result in a huge leap forward. I wouldn’t be surprised if I end up making more money because I’m enjoying myself more and meeting new people.

In short, I’m curious how this works out — and it will probably be in a wild and totally unexpected way.

What does all this mean to you?

First, it’s easier than ever to work with me!

But more importantly, I’d encourage you to take a look at something in your life and ask yourself, “What if I did the scary thing?”

You may find it’s what you’ve wanted to do all along. And it will feel so good once you do it again.

What do you think? I’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment and share your thoughts. Thank you!

SEO

OpenAI To Show Content & Links In Response To Queries

Published

6 hours ago

May 1, 2024

Max

ChatGPT takes step toward becoming a search engine

OpenAI content deal will enhance ChatGPT with the ability to show real-time content with links in response to queries. OpenAI quietly took steps to gaining more search engine type functionality as part of a content licensing deal that may have positive implications for publishers and SEO.

Content Licensing Deal

OpenAI agreed to content licensing with the Financial Times, a global news organization with offices in London, New York, across continental Europe and Asia.

Content licensing deals between AI organizations and publishers are generally about getting access to high quality training data. The training data is then used by language models to learn connections between words and concepts. This deal goes far beyond that use.

ChatGPT Will Show Direct Quotes With Attribution

What makes this content licensing deal between The Financial Times and OpenAI is that there is a reference to giving attribution to content within ChatGPT.

The announced licensing deal explicitly mentions the use of the licensed content so that ChatGPT could directly quote it and provide links to the licensed content.

Further, the licensing deal is intended to help improve ChatGPT’s “usefulness”, which is vague and can mean many things, but it takes on a slightly different meaning when used in the context of attributed answers.

The Financial Times agreement states that the licensing deal is for use in ChatGPT when it provides “attributed content” which is content with an attribution, commonly a link to where the content appeared.

This is the part of the announcement that references attributed content:

“The Financial Times today announced a strategic partnership and licensing agreement with OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence research and deployment, to enhance ChatGPT with attributed content, help improve its models’ usefulness by incorporating FT journalism, and collaborate on developing new AI products and features for FT readers. “

And this is the part of the announcement that mentions ChatGPT offering users attributed quotes and links:

“Through the partnership, ChatGPT users will be able to see select attributed summaries, quotes and links to FT journalism in response to relevant queries.”

The Financial Times Group CEO was even more explicit about OpenAI’s intention to show content and links in ChatGPT:

“This is an important agreement in a number of respects,” said FT Group CEO John Ridding. “It recognises the value of our award-winning journalism and will give us early insights into how content is surfaced through AI. …this partnership will help keep us at the forefront of developments in how people access and use information.
OpenAI understands the importance of transparency, attribution, and compensation…”
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Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI directly referenced showing real-time news content in ChatGPT but more important he referenced OpenAI exploring new ways to show content to its user base.

Lastly, the COO stated that they embraced disruption, which means innovation that creates a new industry or paradigm, usually at the expense of an older one, like search engines.

Lightcap is quoted:

“We have always embraced new technologies and disruption, and we’ll continue to operate with both curiosity and vigilance as we navigate this next wave of change.”

Showing direct quotes of Financial Times content with links to that content is very similar to how search engines work. This is a big change to how ChatGPT works and could be a sign of where ChatGPT is going in the future, a functionality that incorporates online content with links to that content.

Something Else That Is Possibly Related

Someone on Twitter recently noticed a change that is related to “search” in relation to ChatGPT.

This change involves an SSL security certificate that was added for a subdomain of ChatGPT.com. ChatGPT.com is a domain name that was snapped up by someone to capitalize on the 2022 announcement of ChatGPT by OpenAI. OpenAI eventually acquired the domain and it’s been redirecting to ChatGPT.

The change that was noticed is to the subdomain: search.chatgpt.com.

This is a screenshot of the tweet:

Big News For SEO and Publishers

This is significant news for publishers and search marketers ChatGPT will become a source of valuable traffic if OpenAI takes ChatGPT in the direction of providing attributed summaries and direct quotes.

How Can Publishers Get Traffic From ChatGPT?

Questions remain about attributed quotes with links in response to relevant queries. Here are X unknowns about ChatGPT attributed links.

Does this mean that only licensed content will be shown and linked to in ChatGPT?
Will ChatGPT incorporate and use most web data without licensing deals in the same way that search engines do?
OpenAI may incorporate an Opt-In model where publishers can use a notation in Robots.txt or in meta data to opt-in to receiving traffic from ChatGPT.
Would you opt into receiving traffic from ChatGPT in exchange for allowing your content to be used for training?
How would SEOs and publisher’s equation on ChatGPT change if their competitors are all receiving traffic from ChatGPT?

Read the original announcement:

Financial Times announces strategic partnership with OpenAI

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Photo For Everything

SEO

Google’s John Mueller On Website Recovery After Core Updates

Published

1 day ago

April 30, 2024

Max

businessman financial professional look through binocular to see graph and chart.

John Mueller, a Google Search Advocate, provided guidance this week regarding the path forward for websites impacted by recent search algorithm updates.

The discussion started on X (formerly Twitter) by SEO professional Thomas Jepsen.

Jepsen tagged Mueller, asking:

“Google has previously said Google doesn’t hold a grudge and sites will recover once issues have been solved. Is that still the case after HCU?”

Mueller’s response offered hope to site owners while being realistic about the challenges ahead.

Addressing Recovery Timelines

Mueller affirmed Google’s stance on not holding grudges, stating, “That’s still the case.”

However, he acknowledged the complexity of rankings, saying:

“…some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle.”

That’s still the case. That said, some things take much longer to be reassessed (sometimes months, at the moment), and some bigger effects require another update cycle. https://t.co/WDy7Q4dpzb has some more.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024

Mueller pointed to a Google help document explaining the nuances. The document reads:

“Broad core updates tend to happen every few months. Content that was impacted in Search or Discover by one might not recover—assuming improvements have been made—until the next broad core update is released.

Do keep in mind that improvements made by site owners aren’t a guarantee of recovery, nor do pages have any static or guaranteed position in our search results. If there’s more deserving content, that will continue to rank well with our systems.”

The Comments Sparking Debate

Jepsen probed further, asking, “Is a core update what’s needed for HCU-affected sites to recover (assuming they’ve fixed their issues)?”

Mueller’s response highlighted how situations can differ:

“It depends on the situation… I realize there’s a big space between the situations, but generalizing doesn’t help. Sometimes it takes a lot of work on the site, a long time, and an update.”

It depends on the situation. https://t.co/F9s3Hli9t7 and https://t.co/pLdm29PjPD has some on that. I realize there’s a big space between the situations, but generalizing doesn’t help. Sometimes it takes a lot of work on the site, a long time, and an update.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024
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The thread grew as user @selectgame raised concerns about Google Discover traffic, to which Mueller replied:

“Google Discover is affected by core updates as well as other parts of Search (and there are more policies that apply to Discover).”

Google Discover is affected by core updates as well as other parts of Search (and there are more policies that apply to Discover). If you’re seeing these changes when a core update rolled out, that might be what you’re seeing.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 29, 2024

Growing Frustrations

Prominent industry figure Lily Ray voiced mounting frustrations, stating,

“…many HCU-affected websites – which have been making all kinds of improvements over the last 7 months – have only seen further declines with the March Core Update.
I have seen some sites lose 90% or more of their SEO visibility since the HCU, with the last few weeks being the nail in the coffin, despite making significant improvements.”

Ray continued:

“And in my professional opinion, many of these sites did not deserve anywhere near that level of impact, especially the further declines over the past month.”

Mueller hasn’t responded to Ray’s tweet at this time.

John, any chance you can comment on the fact that many HCU-affected websites – which have been making all kinds of improvements over the last 7 months – have only seen further declines with the March Core Update?
I have seen some sites lose 90% or more of their SEO visibility… https://t.co/lvYRAScRQQ
— Lily Ray 😏 (@lilyraynyc) April 29, 2024

Looking Ahead

As the search community awaits Google’s next moves, the path to recovery appears arduous for many impacted by recent algorithm reassessments of “Helpful Content.”

Site improvements don’t guarantee immediate recovery, so publishers face an uphill battle guided only by Google’s ambiguous public advice.

Why SEJ Cares

The March 2024 core update has proven disastrous for many websites, with severe traffic losses persisting even after sites try to improve low-quality content, address technical issues, and realign with Google’s guidelines.

Having clear, actionable guidance from Google on recovering from core update updates is invaluable.

As evidenced by the frustrations expressed, the current communications leave much to be desired regarding transparency and defining a straightforward recovery path.

How This Can Help You

While Mueller’s comments provide some insights, the key takeaways are:

Regaining previous rankings after an algorithm hit is possible if sufficient content/site quality improvements are made.
Recovery timelines can vary significantly and may require a future core algorithm update.
Even with enhancements, recovery isn’t guaranteed as rankings depend on the overall pool of competing content.

The path is undoubtedly challenging, but Mueller’s comments underscore that perseverance with substantial site improvements can eventually pay off.

FAQ

Can SEO professionals predict recovery time for a website hit by core updates?

SEO professionals can’t pinpoint when a site will recover after a core Google algorithm update.

Reasons for this include:

Google releases core updates every few months, so sites may need to wait for the next one.
It can take months for Google to reassess and adjust rankings.
How competitive the query is also impacts if and when a site recovers.

Does making site improvements after a core update ensure recovery in rankings and visibility?

After making improvements following a Google algorithm update, regaining your previous rankings isn’t guaranteed.

Reasons why include:

Your impacted content may not recover until the next core update, provided you’ve implemented enough site improvements.
Google’s search results are dynamic, and rankings can fluctuate based on the quality of competitor content.
There’s no fixed or guaranteed position in Google’s search results.

What is the relationship between Google Discover traffic and core search updates?

Google’s core algorithm updates that impact regular search results also affect Google Discover.

However, Google Discover has additional specific policies that determine what content appears there.

This means:

Improving your content and website quality can boost your visibility on Google Discover, just like regular searches.
You may see changes in your Discover traffic when Google rolls out core updates.
Your SEO and content strategy should account for potential impacts on regular searches and Google Discover.

Featured Image: eamesBot/Shutterstock

SEO

5 Things To Consider Before A Site Migration

Published

2 days ago

April 29, 2024

Max

One of the scariest SEO tasks is a site migration because the stakes are so high and the pitfalls at every step . Here are five tips that will help keep a site migration on track to a successful outcome.

Site Migrations Are Not One Thing

Site Migrations are not one thing, they are actually different scenarios and the only thing they have in common is that there is always something that can go wrong.

Here are examples of some of the different kinds of site migrations:

Migration to a new template
Migrating to a new web host
Merging two different websites
Migrating to a new domain name
Migrating to a new site architecture
Migrating to a new content management system (CMS)
Migrating to a new WordPress site builder

There are many ways a site can change and more ways for those changes to result in a negative outcome.

The following is not a site migration checklist. It’s five suggestions for things to consider.

1. Prepare For Migration: Download Everything

Rule number one is to prepare for the site migration. One of my big concerns is that the old version of the website is properly documented.

These are some of the ways to document a website:

Download the database and save it in at least two places. I like to have a backup of the backup stored on a second device.
Download all the website files. Again, I prefer to save a backup of the backup stored on a second device.
Crawl the site, save the crawl and export it as a CSV or an XML site map. I prefer to have redundant backups just in case something goes wrong.

An important thing to remember about downloading files by FTP is that there are two formats for downloading files: ASCII and Binary.

Use ASCII for downloading files that contain code, like CSS, JS, PHP and HTML.
Use Binary for media like images, videos and zip files.

Fortunately, most modern FTP software have an automatic setting that should be able to distinguish between the two kinds of files. A sad thing that can happen is to download image files using the ASCII format which results in corrupted images.

So always check that your files are all properly downloaded and not in a corrupted state. Always consider downloading a copy for yourself if you have hired a third party to handle the migration or a client is doing it and they’re downloading files. That way if they fail with their download you’ll have an uncorrupted copy backed up.

The most important rule about backups: You can never have too many backups!

2. Crawl The Website

Do a complete crawl of the website. Create a backup of the crawl. Then create a backup of the backup and store it on a separate hard drive.

After the site migration, this crawl data can be used to generate a new list for crawling the old URLs to identify any URLs that are missing (404), are failing to redirect, or are redirecting to the wrong webpage. Screaming Frog also has a list mode that can crawl a list of URLs saved in different formats, including as an XML sitemap, and directly input into a text field. This is a way to crawl a specific batch of URLs as opposed to crawling a site from link to to link.

3. Tips For Migrating To A New Template

Website redesigns can be can be a major source of anguish when they go wrong. On paper, migrating a site to a new template should be a one-to-one change with minimal issues. In practice that’s not always the case. For one, no template can be used off the shelf, it has to be modified to conform to what’s needed, which can mean removing and/or altering the code.

Search marketing expert Nigel Mordaunt (LinkedIn), who recently sold his search marketing agency, has experience migrating over a hundred sites and has important considerations for migrating to a new WordPress template.

This is Nigel’s advice:

“Check that all images have the same URL, alt text and image titles, especially if you’re using new images.
Templates sometimes have hard-coded heading elements, especially in the footer and sidebars. Those should be styled with CSS, not with H tags. I had this problem with a template once where the ranks had moved unexpectedly, then found that the Contact Us and other navigation links were all marked up to H2. I think that was more of a problem a few years ago. But still, some themes have H tags hard coded in places that aren’t ideal.
Make sure that all URLs are the exact same, a common mistake. Also, if planning to change content then check that the staging environment has been noindexed then after the site goes live make sure that the newly uploaded live site no longer contains the noindex robots meta tag.
If changing content then be prepared the site to perhaps be re-evaluated by Google. Depending on the size of the site, even if the changes are positive it may take several weeks to be rewarded, and in some cases several months. The client needs to be informed of this before the migration.
Also, check that analytics and tracking codes have been inserted into the new site, review all image sizes to make sure there are no new images that are huge and haven’t been scaled down. You can easily check the image sizes and heading tags with a post-migration Screaming Frog crawl. I can’t imagine doing any kind of site migration without Screaming Frog.”
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4. Advice For Migrating To A New Web Host

Mark Barrera (LinkedIn), VP SEO, Newfold Digital (parent company of Bluehost), had this to say about crawling before a site migration in preparation for a migration to a new web host:

“Thoroughly crawl your existing site to identify any indexing or technical SEO issues prior to the move.
Maintain URL Structure (If Possible): Changing URL structures can confuse search engines and damage your link equity. If possible, keep your URLs the same.
301 Redirects: 301 Redirects are your friend. Search engines need to be informed that your old content now lives at a new address. Implementing 301 redirects from any old URLs to their new counterparts preserves link equity and avoids 404 errors for both users and search engine crawlers.
Performance Optimization: Ensure your new host provides a fast and reliable experience. Site speed is important for user experience.
Be sure to do a final walkthrough of your new site before doing your actual cutover. Visually double-check your homepage, any landing pages, and your most popular search hits. Review any checkout/cart flows, comment/review chains, images, and any outbound links to your other sites or your partners.
SSL Certificate: A critical but sometimes neglected aspect of hosting migrations is the SSL certificate setup. Ensuring that your new host supports and correctly implements your existing SSL certificate—or provides a new one without causing errors is vital. SSL/TLS not only secures your site but also impacts SEO. Any misconfiguration during migration can lead to warnings in browsers, which deter visitors and can temporarily impact rankings.
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Post migration, it’s crucial to benchmark server response times not just from one location, but regionally or globally, especially if your audience is international. Sometimes, a new hosting platform might show great performance in one area but lag in other parts of the world. Such discrepancies can affect page load times, influencing bounce rates and search rankings. “

5. Accept Limitations

Ethan Lazuk, SEO Strategist & Consultant, Ethan Lazuk Consulting, LLC, (LinkedIn, Twitter) offers an interesting perspective on site migrations on the point about anticipating client limitations imposed upon what you are able to do. It can be frustrating when a client pushes back on advice and it’s important to listen to their reasons for doing it.

I have consulted over Zoom with companies whose SEO departments had concerns about what an external SEO wanted to do. Seeking a third party confirmation about a site migration plan is a reasonable thing to do. So if the internal SEO department has concerns about the plan, it’s not a bad idea to have a trustworthy third party take a look at it.

Ethan shared his experience:

“The most memorable and challenging site migrations I’ve been a part of involved business decisions that I had no control over.
As SEOs, we can create a smart migration plan. We can follow pre- and post-launch checklists, but sometimes, there are legal restrictions or other business realities behind the scenes that we have to work around.
Not having access to a DNS, being restricted from using a brand’s name or certain content, having to use an intermediate domain, and having to work days, weeks, or months afterward to resolve any issues once the internal business situations have changed are just a few of the tricky migration issues I’ve encountered.
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The best way to handle these situations require working around client restrictions is to button up the SEO tasks you can control, set honest expectations for how the business issues could impact performance after the migration, and stay vigilant with monitoring post-launch data and using it to advocate for resources you need to finish the job.”

Different Ways To Migrate A Website

Site migrations are a pain and should be approached with caution. I’ve done many different kinds of migrations for myself and have assisted them with clients. I’m currently moving thousands of webpages from a folder to the root and it’s complicated by multiple redirects that have to be reconfigured, not looking forward to it. But migrations are sometimes unavoidable so it’s best to step up to it after careful consideration.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com