Your Tax Documents are Ready - Wave Issue 172

Google News Garbage; Popular SERP Features; Best SEO Conferences; Employee-Generated Content; Review Schema; Searchquakes Across Industries; and Much More!

Author

Yoyao
January 19, 2024

FIRST …

As the calendar flips to 2024, my inbox starts to feel like a ticking tax time bomb.

I’m starting to get those “Your Tax Documents are Ready” emails from Amazon Associates, Stripe, and all the other online income sources out there.

I always hate getting those emails because I immediately start dreading the tax payments 😅 

One service I haven’t come across yet is a CPA who specializes in foreign expats + online businesses. I’ve used an expat tax CPA for many years now, but she doesn’t always completely understand all the nuances of online businesses.

So it’s another year of me trying to find if there are any new bills or tax treaties allowing more deductions, write-offs, or credits.

When I was working full-time with a foreign employer, I was able to write off over $100k with the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. But ever since I became self-employed, that went away 😢 

But the silver lining is that these taxes are a result of our hard-earned successes. It’s proof that our relentless grind is allowing us to grow each year.

And one last thing, if you know of any tax wizard who understands the complexities of being a foreign expat and an online entrepreneur, let me know! They’ve got a new client!

SEO

Joseph Cox at 404 Media exposes how Google News is amplifying low-quality, AI-generated content, threatening the original journalism space. By not differentiating between AI and human-produced articles, Google's approach may inadvertently welcome a flood of mass-produced, low-effort articles to the news ecosystem. Some of the points made:

  • Google News isn't discriminating between AI-written and human-produced articles.

  • The system’s opacity makes it susceptible to gaming by sites using AI to mimic original reporting.

  • Authentic journalism could be drowned out by a wave of automated content.

  • Google's current stance may inadvertently encourage the proliferation of these AI content farms.

  • The emphasis is now on Google's readiness to tackle the AI moderation challenge to preserve news integrity.

Google’s Danny Sullivan does respond on social media with the claim that “Google News is not somehow ‘boosting’ AI content.”

Nick Eubanks peels back the curtain on securing top SERP features that can catapult your site's visibility and traffic. He discusses the changing game of search with Google’s evolving result pages, making traditional blue links the underdogs.

He steps through valuable strategies to land your content in coveted spots like Featured Snippets and Rich Snippets, increasing the odds of snagging that click from curious searchers. Some of the key takeaways:

  • Target Featured Snippets for above-the-fold presence.

  • Employ image SEO to appear in Image Packs.

  • Get your business on the map with Local Packs.

  • Dive into "People Also Ask" by addressing common queries.

  • Use structured data for a shot at Rich Snippets and improved shopping results.

Loren Baker at the Search Engine Journal curates the SEO conferences of 2024. Dive into interactive workshops, hear from top industry experts, and learn about the latest trends.

SEO Ripples

  • Google introduces two major updates: Circle to Search and an AI-powered multisearch experience. Circle to Search allows users to search on their Android phone screens without switching apps by using gestures like circling, highlighting, or tapping. Users can also take a picture and ask questions to quickly find relevant information with AI-powered overviews.

  • Barry Schwartz explores a perplexing SEO issue where Google's weekend search ranking updates seem to affect websites inconsistently—especially those with non-standard TLDs. Sites appear to rank normally during weekdays but drop off on weekends. Whether it's a quality threshold issue or a bug remains a mystery.

  • James Dooley shares his guide on Parasite SEO strategy for rapid organic SEO results. He explains how to leverage high-authority sites to rank quickly in competitive niches, potentially making money faster by piggybacking on their SEO stature.

  • James Dooley continues with his rundown of the best Parasite SEO sites to exploit. He details how using authoritative third-party platforms can speed up Google SERP rankings for competitive keywords and discusses how to create and leverage content effectively on these sites, including LinkedIn Pulse and Medium, for quick monetization and link-building strategies.

CONTENT

Guillaume Deschamps from Moz dives into the untapped potential of Employee-Generated Content (EGC) for amplifying brand visibility. He emphasizes that authentic content from employees humanizes your brand and is more trusted by audiences, leading to enhanced engagement, improved SEO, and higher conversion rates. He offers actionable tips for creating an effective EGC strategy and measuring its impact on your business.

source: semrush.com

Sydney Go shares how Review Schema Markup can boost your SEO by providing search engines with crucial review data, potentially improving click-through and conversion rates. She guides you through seamless Review Schema implementation and testing, ensuring your online presence stands out in SERPs with rich, socially-validated snippets.

Garrett Sussman reveals that the cost of ranking for a single keyword can be deceptively expensive, potentially requiring an investment of around $55,000 when considering all aspects of SEO and content production.

This investment isn't just about the keyword itself but includes strategy development, content creation, optimization, and link building, all essential components that contribute to the eventual ranking success on search engines.

Despite the high initial cost, this investment can yield a significant return on investment, potentially reaching $3.6 million in revenue, illustrating the hidden value and scale of impact that targeted SEO efforts can have for a business.

Anthony Will discusses nine strategies to scrub negative content from the web that could tarnish your brand's image. From leveraging privacy claims and copyright laws to engaging in mediation or negotiation. He details how to proactively protect and manage your online reputation against potentially damaging material.

AI

Jaume Ros tests and grades four leading AI writing tools for their price, ease of use, content quality, and SEO-ranking abilities. He uses Autoblogging, Cuppa, Koala, and SurferSEO AI.

If you’re looking to see how the different tools work, he demos all of them.

There’s a lot of hype surrounding the rabbit r1, introduced at CES. Unlike Apple's Vision Pro, rabbit's AI-powered gadget is stealing the show with its sleek design, partnership with Teenage Engineering, and an intuitive, almost UI-less experience.

The r1 offers a seamless, natural language-driven user experience. Its benefits include streamlining daily tasks without hefty UI complexities, potentially making tech more accessible and intuitive for a new generation - all at the competitive price of $199, sans recurring fees.

BrightEdge details the AI-driven changes in Google that are changing the search landscape. They created their BrightEdge Generative Parser tool to track SGE patterns across keywords and shared their findings. Here's a peek at some insights they share:

  • Search Result Implications: With different SGE states like Collapsed (partial view), Opt-in (user request needed), and No SGE State (traditional results), the way content appears and is interacted with will vary, impacting SEO visibility.

  • Content Modules: SGE utilizes various content modules that reflect the user's search intent, such as unordered lists, ordered lists, recipes, local searches, and product views, making content presentation more dynamic.

  • Adaptive SEO Strategies: The rapid and ongoing evolution of SGE necessitates that SEO professionals stay on their toes, continually adapting strategies to changing formats and modules.

  • User Engagement Focus: The manner in which users interact with SGE results is key, implying a greater focus on optimizing content to encourage engagement and provide direct, contextually relevant responses.

Jim Yu also posted an article covering SGE’s impact across industries with this infographic:

Mark Traphagen presents five insights from an in-depth study of thousands of SGE results to help prepare SEOs for the significant changes ahead. The key takeaways:

  • SGE's ranking algorithm differs significantly from traditional SEO, emphasizing content relevance over historical authority signals. [High Impact]

  • Local search results via SGE may prove less useful, as they aren’t as personalized or proximity-focused as traditional local results. [Low Impact]

  • E-commerce sites may be affected since SGE emphasizes product results, potentially bypassing web pages that rank well organically. [High Impact]

  • For top-of-funnel research, visibility relies on mentions within third-party roundup lists heavily used by SGE, which could marginalize unlisted brands. [High Impact]

  • SGE sometimes misinterprets query intent, a mismatch that could impact user adoption if it remains unaddressed. [Low Impact]

AI Ripples

  • A Georgian judge has denied OpenAI's motion to dismiss a radio host’s defamation suit. It’s the first legal challenge against the ChatGPT’s "hallucinations.” Mark Walters sued OpenAI after an incident where ChatGPT, upon a query, fabricated details of a nonexistent lawsuit, falsely accusing him of defrauding and embezzling funds from the Second Amendment Foundation.

  • Emilia David reports on Amazon's new AI chatbot feature that amusingly responds to customer inquiries with information, jokes, and fashion insights à la Bezos. Although still in testing, this AI promises a blend of practical support and quirky entertainment for users browsing Amazon's product pages.

  • Aditya Tiwari shares that Amazon's Fire TV now has an AI artwork generator feature, turning voice commands into visual art. Available on select devices, users can request custom images from Alexa and tweak styles, with the option to use creations as backgrounds or save them to Amazon Photos.

  • Arizona State University is OpenAI's first higher ed customer. ASU plans to issue ChatGPT Enterprise accounts to full-time faculty and staff, fostering innovative research and improved operations, while upholding ethical AI usage standards. This partnership is the step in expanding AI's role in academia.

LINK BUILDING

Carlos Silva discusses link building outreach and the strategy behind earning those sweet authoritative backlinks for SEO success. He outlines a three-step process involving top-notch content creation, identifying and pitching to the right websites and individuals, and doing so with personalized communication.

He also explores a variety of link building methods such as the Skyscraper Technique and guest posting.

MARKETING

Tan Siew Ann unpacks the various benefits and strategies for engaging audiences on-the-go. She dives into different ad formats, from interstitial to social media ads, and guides businesses on how to hone in on potential customers with geo-targeting and keyword optimization.

Neal Schaffer takes you through Facebook Business Page creation with this practical guide in 12 easy steps to establish your brand's presence on Facebook. From selecting the right page type to publishing engaging content, this article covers all the essentials for setting up a Facebook business hub and leveraging Meta's network which includes Instagram and WhatsApp.

After you’ve set up your Facebook page, check out this next one…

Ginny Mineo shares insights on how to create an effective Facebook Business Page that captivates and maintains audience engagement. From selecting the right profile picture to strategic post scheduling, she offers 13 tips to generate leads and customers. Some of the tips include:

  • Don't use personal profiles for business: Create a dedicated Business Page instead of using a personal profile for better access to marketing tools and insights, avoiding Facebook's terms of service violations.

  • Leverage Facebook Live: Utilize Facebook Live as a dynamic tool to increase brand awareness and connect with audiences in real-time, something that traditional posts can't achieve.

  • Utilize targeting tools for posts: Employ Facebook's advanced targeting tools to tailor specific posts to segments of your audience based on demographics interests, and behavior to increase relevancy and engagement.

  • Pin important posts: Pin significant announcements or offers to the top of your page, ensuring key messages don't get lost in the newsfeed and remain visible to visitors.

  • Monitor response rates: She highlights the 'Messages' feature and its impact on customer service, including the importance of the response rate indicator that informs visitors how quickly they can expect a reply, reflecting on the business's responsiveness and customer service quality.

EDUCATION

Matt Diggity shares how he jumpstarts his SEO projects to drive more traffic and quick profitability. Matt breaks it all down: from selecting a killer niche, acquiring a starter website, to on-point audits in content and links. His strategies aim to turn sites into a topical authority.

Olaf Kopp dives deep into the evolution of Google's entity-based search system since 2013. In his thorough article, Kopp dissects the intricacies of Google patents linked to semantic search, highlighting the immense role entities play in query processing, content relevance, SERP organization, and E-E-A-T evaluation. Here are three key patents related to semantic search:

  • Search Result Ranking and Presentation (Patent US11868357B2): This patent outlines advanced methods for ranking search results and producing their presentation, moving beyond simple keyword matching. It incorporates knowledge graphs to improve the search experience by providing results based on an understanding of entities and their modifying concepts within queries.

  • Providing Knowledge Panels with Search Results (Patent US11836177B2): This patent focuses on integrating knowledge panels into search results to present factual information about entities quickly and conveniently. It proposes methods for identifying entities within a search query and collating diverse content to display within the knowledge panels, enhancing the user's search journey.

  • Providing Search Results Based on a Compositional Query (Patent US11762933B2): Designed to process complex queries involving relationships between multiple entities, this patent describes a system that recognizes entity types from queries, identifies nodes in a knowledge graph, and compares attribute values to determine the most contextually relevant results.

Roger Montti at Search Engine Journal also happened to share a guide to reading Google patents without falling into common traps. He highlights the importance of context and cautioning against skimming for secrets.

Divya Bisht sharesa tactical playbook for onboarding skeptical executives onto the content marketing train. If you've ever presented a content strategy only to be met with confusion or the dreaded, "How will this bring in sales?" then this is for you.

Learn to connect content to business goals, gently increase buy-in, and establish trust to sway the content clueless into content champions. This isn't just another article; it's a strategic guide to elevating understanding and appreciation of content marketing across your leadership.

My Take: Even if you work for yourself, you are your own boss. It’s important that you’re able to analyze and present strategies to yourself. it’s only going to help you with your own businesses.

CASE STUDY

A fun, short instructional video where Fery Kaszoni schools the legendary Bruce Lee on Digital PR and link building. He breaks down a successful MMA case study, demonstrating how they secured over 20 links for a client's website.

source: youtube.com

Motion Invest analyzes how picking the right ad network could catapult your site's ad revenue by 300%. It's all about understanding which platforms reward your niche the best. The data-rich study compares giants like Adsense, where sites often start, to specialized players like Ezoic, Mediavine, and Raptive (previously AdThrive), which cater to sites as they scale in traffic. Key highlights include:

  • Adsense may be ubiquitous but doesn't always offer the best rates.

  • Ezoic emerges as a strong ally for growing sites, boasting revenue jumps of 50-300% when switching from Adsense.

  • Mediavine, which requires 50,000 monthly sessions, significantly rewards popular niches like outdoors and careers/employment.

  • Raptive shines for high-traffic sites (100,000+ monthly sessions), outperforming others in several niches, especially Beauty/Fashion.

  • Raptive and Mediavine lead the pack in EPMV, but every site's mileage may vary, emphasizing the need for personalized research and insights.

Found from a @natzir9 tweet, this study by Janek Bevendorff, Matti Wiegmann, Martin Potthast, and Benno Stein cover the deteriorating search engine quality due to SEO spam. Their extensive research monitored major search engines over a year, revealing that optimized, low-quality content, particularly from affiliate marketing, is prevalent in search results.

The paper highlights the struggle search engines face with SEO spam, suggesting a blurring line between quality content and spam, and calls for greater attention to combat this issue effectively.

Matt Diggity’s latest case study from his agency showcases a 38% increase in organic traffic for a client's website. They leveraged a programmatic method to churn out 500 pages, tailored to individual keywords. The strategy not only spiked traffic but also naturally attracted over 700 referring domains, including Oracle and Google, all without any manual link-building efforts.

Spencer Haws shares his ambitious journey of publishing 1,325 blog posts in a single year on Niche Pursuits. His efforts paid off with Google traffic shooting up to 8.3 million views, almost tripling from the previous year's statistics. He discusses the strategies, including keyword research, competitor analysis, and use of AI to get those results.

BUSINESS IDEAS

Ian Howells shares his insights on the most profitable blogging niches. He explains why these niches offer substantial earning potential and how they manage to captivate their respective audiences with unique content and tailored solutions. Key takeaways from the article:

  • Unique Selling Proposition, solution-driven content, and relevance are pivotal to a blog's profitability.

  • High-earning niches include food, finance, beauty & fashion, DIY, parenting, health & wellness, technology, travel, pet care, and personal development.

  • Lucrative blogs address their audience's demands with exceptional content and strategic monetization like affiliate marketing and sponsored content.

  • He emphasizes the importance of aligning personal passion and expertise with market demand for blogging success.

  • A combination of persistence, creativity, strategic planning, and targeted monetization strategies is crucial for turning a blog into a lucrative online business.

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