{"id":612561,"date":"2024-03-13T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo\/"},"modified":"2024-03-13T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T13:00:00","slug":"are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"#Are we becoming less curious about SEO?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a29cb04bf361\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a29cb04bf361\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo\/#There_was_a_time_when_SEOs_loved_to_second-guess_Google_algorithms_What_happened\" >There was a time when SEOs loved to second-guess Google algorithms. What happened?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo\/#Where_is_SEO_curiosity_headed\" >Where is SEO curiosity headed?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo\/#Be_more_curious\" >Be more curious<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-seo\/#Be_skeptical\" >Be skeptical<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"There_was_a_time_when_SEOs_loved_to_second-guess_Google_algorithms_What_happened\"><\/span>There was a time when SEOs loved to second-guess Google algorithms. What happened?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\nI noticed that an emphatic comment by Google\u2019s VP of Search, Hyung-Jin Kim, at SMX Next in November 2022 passed without much discussion in the SEO community to this day.<\/p>\n<p>He said (my emphasis): <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\n\u201cE-A-T is a template for how we rate an individual site. <strong>We do it to every single query and every single result<\/strong>. It\u2019s pervasive throughout every single thing we do.\u201d He added, \u201c<strong>E-A-T is a core part of our metrics.<\/strong>\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>E-A-T, and, subsequently E-E-A-T, are discussed by SEOs all the time. Most are quick to say that they are not a part of any Google ranking system. Google spokespeople also confirm those statements. They are quality concepts conveyed to the human quality raters whose reports are used to confirm that the ranking systems are delivering the best results to the SERPs. The raters are given a copy of the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/static.googleusercontent.com\/media\/guidelines.raterhub.com\/en\/searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf\">Search Quality Rater Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/1038259\/SEL_Post-text --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1693000027709-0\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"post-break\"><\/div>\n<p>I shared the SMX Next quote in about five forums and chat groups. Each has a potential audience in the hundreds to the thousands. I focused on the second quote that E-A-T is a core part of Google\u2019s metrics.<\/p>\n<p>How could it be <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lied to \u201cevery single query and every single result\u201d if it is not part of a ranking system? <\/p>\n<p>I posited that it must be a quality assurance process done <strong>after<\/strong> a SERP is delivered. The process might be the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An AI process examines evidence of expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness on each page in the index. Perhaps they have added Experience by now.<\/li>\n<li>This assessment is conducted continuously during crawls of the site and other sites that cite it or link to it.<\/li>\n<li>Each factor is given a numeric score that can change with each crawl.<\/li>\n<li>Each element of a SERP \u2014 snippet, carousel image and URL result \u2014 would have such a score. This should have a high value relative to the results that follow below it and on subsequent \u201cpages\u201d in the continuous scroll.<\/li>\n<li>SERP results are obviously selected by separate ranking systems, so I speculate that E-E-A-T serves as a quality check after the fact.<\/li>\n<li>Consequently, it does not slow down the delivery of the SERPs. If an adverse trend is noted, it is analyzed in detail and a ranking system is amended, or the E-E-A-T factors are tweaked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I might be totally off the mark there, but interpreting the Google researcher\u2019s words isn\u2019t the point of this article.<\/p>\n<p>Of the hundreds of SEOs who might have noted my invitation for discussion, about five replied with a serious response. They are old friends, and I have met three in person many times. Other responses included weak humor,\u00a0 sarcasm or skepticism of anything said by Google. Then, crickets.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-where-is-seo-curiosity-headed\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_is_SEO_curiosity_headed\"><\/span>Where is SEO curiosity headed?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I am in shock that an uncommon statement from a Googler hasn\u2019t resulted in subsequent discussion, even when I tried to raise this topic recently. <\/p>\n<p>What happened to the legendary SEO curiosity in guessing the \u201c200 ranking factors?\u201d More than one author would poll the SEO community to find and rank the major ranking factors. We loved to add our own observations to the knowledge pool.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of energy and curiosity is expended on building shiny tools with Python, particularly with a good dose of AI. Some of that work seems to be reinventing wheels.<\/p>\n<p>There is a vigorous discussion of SEO tools every day. Can there be a better tool for keyword research, as the marketers would have us believe? Can AI writing tools really benefit all niches of SEO?<\/p>\n<p>There is no shortage of self-styled experts growing their mailing lists by inviting us to steal their \u201csecrets\u201d. A lot of misinformation is being passed on as fact.<\/p>\n<p>We have lost the early explorers who dissect every search engine patent and try to correlate it to their observations of the SERPs. I miss pioneers such as Ted Ulle and Bill Slawski, who would analyze algorithm updates and try to pinpoint possible ways to avoid being caught up in Google\u2019s net.<\/p>\n<p><!-- START INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<p><!-- END INLINE FORM --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-css-opacity has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-background\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-be-more-curious\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Be_more_curious\"><\/span>Be more curious<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>SEO curiosity isn\u2019t completely dead. Using the E-E-A-T example, many say those factors are not part of Google\u2019s ranking systems. It\u2019s OK to have a healthy skepticism of anything put out by search engine spokespeople.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Channel your curiosity into an investigation. You might not want to share the results if they are not meaningful. Then again, we just saw Cyrus Shepard examining 50 sites for correlations between features found on websites and Google algorithm update winners and losers.<\/p>\n<p>Shepard found \u201cexperience\u201d to be one of the features on \u201cwinner\u201d websites. But haven\u2019t SEOs been echoing the mantra that E-E-A-T is not a part of the ranking algorithms? <\/p>\n<p>Maybe not in a direct way, but whatever algorithm looks at experience is sending a positive signal to a ranking algorithm. Since relatively few pages are product or place reviews, it makes sense to keep an Experience algorithm separate from a ranking algorithm.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m privileged to watch a curious SEO, Daniel K. Cheung, build a matrix of E-E-A-T attributes for auditing a page. So far, he has found it necessary to give each attribute a numeric value so that some can be shown to provide a larger impact on a page than others. <\/p>\n<p>For example, an attribute might be the presence of a video of the author using the reviewed product. This might have a greater impact than a still image of the same scene. It doesn\u2019t matter if the real method used by Google is far more nuanced. Such curiosity gives us ideas to test.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A checklist for evaluating E-E-A-T (shared with permission)\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-us.googleusercontent.com\/8-U212KRJ54VTRYw3_YVdz462KqIpt61iRqN7irnLRDVR1_aHI54ttUN8r8OPHGqpj4VGGCblokLyzZsMW4puYWiRbviCKGDdvvcVW-4ZBA19Q0vguOLD72YuILkMxb4BRYr-I52MDw3Fc6a-SQc1Pc\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-us.googleusercontent.com\/8-U212KRJ54VTRYw3_YVdz462KqIpt61iRqN7irnLRDVR1_aHI54ttUN8r8OPHGqpj4VGGCblokLyzZsMW4puYWiRbviCKGDdvvcVW-4ZBA19Q0vguOLD72YuILkMxb4BRYr-I52MDw3Fc6a-SQc1Pc\" alt=\"A checklist for evaluating E-E-A-T (shared with permission)\"><\/noscript><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em><em>A checklist for evaluating E-E-A-T (shared with permission)<\/em><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-be-skeptical\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Be_skeptical\"><\/span>Be skeptical<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You might argue that Shepard\u2019s sample of 50 isn\u2019t large enough. Fair enough. One of the large SEO tool makers might get their crawlers to examine a million websites and tell us whether they agree with him.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t wait for a tool company to conduct the study \u2014 you pick 100 or more sites and do your own tests. Rinse and repeat until you are ready to announce your findings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n    About the author<\/p>\n<div class=\"information\">\n<div class=\"author-module\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" alt=\"Ash Nallawalla\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/03\/Ash-Nallawalla-scaled.jpeg.webp\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/03\/Ash-Nallawalla-scaled.jpeg.webp\" alt=\"Ash Nallawalla\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\"><\/noscript>\n                                            <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div class=\"about\">\n<div class=\"name\">\n                            <strong>Ash Nallawalla<\/strong>\n                        <\/div>\n<div class=\"row g-2 pt-2\">\n<div class=\"col-auto twitter\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2F&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=ashnallawalla&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-x-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\n                            <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-auto\">\n                                    <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/ashnallawalla\/\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\n                                <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>Ash Nallawalla is a Melbourne, Australia-based SEO consultant and author of Accidental SEO Manager (Amazon), now in its second edition. He has over 22 years of SEO experience running a large agency, an online training company, a consulting practice and as an in-house, international SEO for well-known brands. He is a regular speaker at Pubcon since 2007 and at similar events in Australia and Asia. He is one of the SEO judges of the Australian Web Industry Awards.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/becoming-less-curious-about-seo-438249\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There was a time when SEOs loved to second-guess Google algorithms. What happened? I noticed that an emphatic comment by Google\u2019s VP of Search, Hyung-Jin Kim, at SMX Next in November 2022 passed without much discussion in the SEO community to this day. He said (my emphasis): \u201cE-A-T is a template for how we rate&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":612562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/03\/Are-we-becoming-less-curious-about-SEO.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[26293,78070],"class_list":["post-612561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-google","tag-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}