Wave Issue 64

First...

A couple issues ago I had shared a link about trying to index pages that Google stubbornly didn't want to index. The tip suggested creating a new page with the same content and a different URL, and removing the old page.

I tried it and it worked!

Well, what I actually did was change the URL of the page (instead of creating a new page). I figured it was the same effect with a new URL that wasn't indexed. Here was my process:

Find all the Internal Links pointing to the /old-url with Link Whisper and keeping this page/window tab open
Changed the URL (e.g., domain.com/best-niches/ to domain.com/best-niche/) in another window tab
Rank Math Pro automatically created the redirections from the /old-url to /new-url
Go back to the Link Whisper tab and edit all those links in the individual posts to reflect the /new-url

It's a bit of a pain because of the internal links. Even though the redirection was there, I'd rather have a direct link to the new page, instead of an extra redirection in the middle.

Google picked up the new URLs on all the sites quickly, under 24 hours. I only requested indexing on Google Search Console for the first couple of changes After that, I just let Google pick up the new URLs themselves.

I'm glad I tried this too. I had tried many other ways to get Google to index thse pages, but they didn't work.

As I was looking at all the non-indexed pages, about 15 across 4 sites, I also noticed something interesting. All the pages were published around Dec. 10-11, 2021.

So it seems like Google had trouble indexing pages around those dates, at least on my sites. With that coincidence, I'm going to say it Google's fault those pages were not indexed!

SEO

SEO Title Tags - A Complete Guide

SEO title tags are a foundational SEO element that can set your content up to gain more traffic and visibility. Title tags appear in three major locations:

Browsers
SERPs
Posted links on social media sites

Check out Rank Ranger's guide to optimizing your title tags.

5 Ways to Stop Search Engines from Indexing a Page on Your Website

Wondering how to stop search engines from indexing a page? This guide will help you choose the best method for your site.

And yes, there are multiple reasons why you may not want to have all the pages on your website indexed by Google. Some pages you may not want to index:

Admin and Login Pages
Thank You Pages
Author Archives
Internal Search Results Pages
Category and Tag Pages

SEO Office Hours, December 31st, 2021

Onely's summary of Google's SEO Office Hours on New Year's Eve with John Mueller.

No cache file for an indexed page
Inconsistent quality of different language versions
Assessing the quality of a website’s content
301 redirects from non-indexed pages
Text unavailable for users vs. its indexing
A migrated domain not ranked in Google Top Stories
Timeframe for processing quality changes
Unique product descriptions vs. content quality
Noindexing author archive pages (There's no E-A-T score)

How To Check Which Pages Are Indexed By Google?

Our favorite topic - indexing pages on Google - gets covered here. It covers how to check which pages are indexed by Google, why some aren't being indexed, and how you can fix that.

Domains lightning round #AskGooglebot - YouTube

In this lightning episode of AskGooglebot, John Mueller answers several questions about domains:

Does Google care if I have a .space domain? Are .com domains better?
Should I use the www or non-www version of a domain name?
Is it possible to use the rel-canonical link element across different top level domain names?
Can I rank internationally with a ccTLD?

Content

Managing Freelance Writers: How To Find, Train & Retain Top Talent

Ron Lieback covers how to find freelance writers, train and retain top writers. He also discusses how to let writers go.

Here are a few of their tips that are given:

For Targeted Niches, Seek Journalists First
Search Where Your Target Subject Matter Experts Hang Out Online
Be Super Specific In Ads
Ask For Samples, Not Resumes

Education

The Ad Revenue Index | View Ad Rate Trends

If you were happy with your Q4 ad earnings, don't be surprised by the sudden drop when the new year comes. Ad rates always drop in Q1. Q4 is always the biggest because ad agencies and marketing departments spend more during the holidays to fight through the noise, but also to spend the rest of their ad budget money.

Tyler Bishop shared this interesting chart showing the big drop in ad rates from December to January for the last 6 years.

Follow the link to see Ezoic's Ad Revenue Index to see how ad rates increase and decrease throughout the year.

Search Engine Results Pages and SERP Features Explained

We are all trying to rank highly in the SERPs, but it's also important to understand how the SERP is displayed by Google and the 17+ SERP Features you'll see on Google.

Semrush covers:

How SERPs are generated
How the Google algorithm influences results pages
The difference between organic and paid results
The SERP features users might see when they conduct an online search

Business Ideas

33 Unusual Business Ideas That Can Make You Money in 2022

Niche Pursuits published a few different articles on business ideas. One is on unique business ideas, another on low cost - high profit margin ideas, and a third on Amazon business ideas.

33 Unusual business ideas to make money include: Glamping, Cat Cafe, Microgreen Sales, Pet Hotel, Online Bakery, Chicken Rentals, Professional Cuddler, Plant Hotel, and many more unusual businesses.

31 Low cost business ideas with high profit margins include: Blogging, Affiliate Marketing, Dropshipping, Freelance Writing, Dog Walking, Selling on Redbubble, Upcycling Furniture, Tour Guide, and other low cost businesses that you don't need much capital to start.

20 Amazon business ideas include: Amazon FBA, Self-Publish Books on Amazon KDP, Amazon VA Business, Amazon Seller Consulting, Amazon Liquidations, Amazon Handmade, Private Label, Build and Flip Amazon Website, and more.

News

WordPress Core Vulnerabilities Hits Millions of Sites

If your sites didn't automatically update to WordPress 5.8.3 yet, consider updating it now. It fixed 4 major vulnerabilities:

SQL injection due to lack of data sanitization in WP_Meta_Query (severity level rated high, 7.4)
Authenticated Object Injection in Multisites (severity level rated medium 6.6)
Stored Cross Site Scripting (XSS) through authenticated users (severity level rated high, 8.0)
SQL Injection through WP_Query due to improper sanitization (severity level rated high, 8.0)

We have big news: Yoast SEO is coming to Shopify!

We're really excited to announce we are bringing Yoast SEO to another platform: Shopify! Find out more about what's coming in this post.

IndexNow WordPress Plugin Released

Microsoft Bing released the IndexNow WordPress plugin over Christmas that gives you instant indexing to Bing and Yandex. It will send updates to the two search engines whenever you create a new post or update one.

Some SEO plugins can do this too. Rank Math Pro has instant indexing to Bing already.

Like Niche Surfer?

Let me know! Reply or email me at [email protected] I’d love to know what you think and if you have any ideas.

I’d also appreciate it if you shared it with fellow niche surfers.

Also, be sure to Whitelist [email protected] and/or drag the email to the Primary Inbox to make sure you don't miss the emails!

Have a great week with taking your niche sites to another level!