Wave Issue 24

First...

So for all of you with many Product Reviews on your affiliate sites, any reactions so far?

I've seen a couple of my more popular product reviews drop 2-4 spots in Google Search Console and I'm seeing the effect on Google Analytics. At least it's not a drop of 20-40 spots (yet).

I'll be waiting a couple of weeks before doing anything, because I expect there to be algo tweaks as they see real-world results come in.

It's been a hectic week, so haven't gotten around to finishing my income report yet, but will do that soon. I know everyone's waiting on it! 😉

SEO

3 Vital Click-Based Signals for SEO: First, Long, & Last - Moz

Cyrus Shepard takes a look at how Google uses engagement signals to rank web pages. Yep.

Google usually dances around this topic and/or tries to deny they're not using clicks, time on page, etc. for rankings.

But then why does their How Search Works page say they use interaction data?

Tools and Resources

Master Keyword Chef Cooked Up New Updates

Master Keyword Chef Ben Adler cooked up some new dishes this past week to find low competition keywords even faster.

'Get All SERPs' button - Analyze all the SERPs for your entire report in 1 click. Easily find the easier keywords with "weaker" sites ranking on the front page. (Paid feature)
'All' category and additional filters - Filter your report by volume and SERP score to quickly see the best keywords to go after.
Custom keyword import - Import custom keywords from other tools or sources. A great way to save credits.

It's Free to sign up. You'll get 1,000 keyword credits for free, along with 30 SERP credits!

Conversion Pro Unlimited is Coming Back on April 13th

Pro Unlimited opens up again on April 13th, but you can get on the waitlist now. Enter your email to save your spot in line.

There's been a lot of talk about Conversion.AI in recent weeks, so I tested it out and signed up for the Pro Unlimited plan last week when they first released it. Conversion actually acquired Headlime for their long-form content generator. When I tested Headlime a few months ago, it definitely wasn't as good as this Conversion version.

There's promise here to speed up the early stages of the writing process. It's not a one-click article generator and you'll still need to put in some editing work, but it's a viable option to kick start articles with. Especially if you have writer's block.

Sign up with the link and you'll also get 10,000 bonus credits too. If you're on the Pro Unlimited plan, it's a moot point, but you can use it when you're on a Trial.

Content

Google’s Product Reviews Update

The Product Reviews Update on April 8th that's an "improvement to [Google's] ranking systems" has been the talk of the SEO and Affiliate World. Some people are freaking out, while others are embracing it.

This also shouldn't come as a big surprise as John Mueller has beat on the "user experience" drum for years now. While I read this, my first two thoughts went to:

Google just gave us an outline for product reviews
This will hopefully weed out the poor content and sites

Then I wondered "Why did Google just give us the outline?" and that led to a 3rd thought:

What's Google going to do with even better content? Put together snippets from all these better sources to create their own "Product Review" for Page 1 of SERPs?

What can we do? Continue improving content. Google just gave what should be included in reviews, so just follow the plan. The update will take 2 weeks to fully roll out and I'll expect tweaks here and there, so I'll try and resist the urge to react and change content on any initial ranking drops.

What are your thoughts? Will you continue to write product reviews or switch to more/all informational articles?

Chris at Niche Safari just released a video that goes through each of Google's points about what makes a good product review. You'll want to check that out.

Link Building

Debunking Link Building Myths in 2021 - Moz

On this week’s episode of Whiteboard Friday, guest host and MozCon speaker Shannon McGuirk walks through five link building myths prevalent in 2021, and why you shouldn’t believe them.

Myth #1: Category + product pages = impossible
Myth #2: Top-tier news sites only give nofollow links
Myth #3: Only send pitches in the morning
Myth #4: Relevancy isn't king
Myth #5: You can't ask for a link

Education

Core Web Vitals Explained: How To Fix Site Optimization Issues - YouTube

Wondering how to fix Core Web Vitals issues? Matt Diggity gives an overview of what CWV is and an overview of how to speed up sites.

I'm glad he discusses Field Data (the real data that Google uses) vs. Lab Data, along with Chrome UX Report. Many people think that the Lab Data is what's used by Google for assessment, but it's not. If you have enough traffic, look at your Field Data. Only thing is it takes 28 days to see if any changes take effect with the Field Data.

Another great tip is to test competitor pages for a specific keyword with the Reddico SERP Speed Tool. After all, your content and site are competing against your competitor in the relevant SERPs.

He says Step 1 to solving speed issues is to upgrade your hosting. He suggests WPX (shared hosting) and Cloudways (VPS hosting). I also suggest VPS and have a step-by-step guide on how to set up a fast $6 VPS server and migrate to it in less than 1.5 hrs.

Why Do Search Rankings on Some Keywords Fluctuate So Much?

“Why do rankings of certain keywords fluctuate a lot? For example, a particular keyword ranks 8 in the morning, 10 in the afternoon, 15 in the evening, 9 late at night. The keyword is searched from one location and one IP address only.”

I like how the SEO, Tony Wright, answers this question by comparing it to weighing yourself every day or even multiple times a day.

Weight loss and gains occur over a period of time, and there'll be fluctuations. It's the same with search engine rankings, so checking every day won't give you a good picture of how your site is doing.

"In fact, if you are checking rankings too often, you are going to be susceptible to knee-jerk reactions that may very well derail your overall SEO strategy."

Increase Your Amazon Affiliate Program Commissions And Income

Shaun Marrs gives an Amazon Affiliate trick to pick products in the right category. Certain categories have higher commissions than others and some products will cross a number of categories.

It can be a nice little trick, but I usually go with the manufacturer's Amazon page, because those will usually have higher sales numbers. Those product pages will have a higher number of star ratings, as well as product questions/answers that could all help convert the visitor. Social proof is a factor that's important to consider.

Do Redirects Impact the Speed of Your Website? | Matthew Edgar

This is a nice study on how redirects affect site speed. I've always thought that using .htaccess redirects were faster than WordPress plugins, but this study gave me pause.

Key Takeaways:.

Redirect chains have a notable impact on speed, especially after 3-5 redirect hops. Linking to the final destination to skip the chain can reduce a website’s load.
Redirects can add overhead and impact a website’s speed if they are contained in the .htaccess file and if there are more than 50,000 redirect directives included.
If you have fewer than 50,000 redirects specified on your .htaccess file, don’t worry about the speed implications of redirects adding overhead—there are better ways to improve your site’s speed!
If redirects are specified in a database, such as through a WordPress plugin, redirects likely have no impact on speed.
If redirects impact speed, they will affect the Time To First Byte (TTFB). If your TTFB is low, chances are good that redirects aren’t what’s causing your website to load slowly.

News

Yahoo Answers Shutting Down: An Opportunity For SEOs?

Big news...but does it actually remove competition for our informational articles?

I can't recall the last time I was on Yahoo Answers or even thought about it.

Yahoo Answers has been a staple of the internet for over 15 years, since June 28, 2005. Now, Yahoo is going to close it and not really provide an archive, like when they closed the Yahoo Directory...

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