🐹 Hamsterdam Part 103: Weekly SEO & AI News Recap (6/14 to 6/20, 2025)
By Ethan Lazuk
Last updated:
A weekly look-back at SEO & AI news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.
Opening notes, thoughts, and musings:
- Welcome to another new week of Hamsterdam! 🐹
- I appreciate you being here, and look forward to sharing the week’s news! 🙌
If you’re in a rush, hop down to the news portion. 📰
Or continue reading for two vocabulary lessons plus an introduction.
And we’re off …
🧑💻 Marketing word of the week: “Heading hierarchy”
Heading hierarchy refers to using headings (H1 through H6, etc.) to organize information on a webpage.
Heading hierarchy helps both readers and search engines understand the flow and logic of your content. Think of it like an outline, where the H1 is your page’s main title, H2s mark major subsections, H3s mark sub-subsections, etc.
LLMs like ChatGPT or Gemini 2.5 powering Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews no play a major role in how people discover and consume content. These systems rely on semantic understanding (not just keywords). Therefore, writing in clear, structured chunks using headings (as well as lists or bullets) helps LLMs identify the context of each section to better extract accurate insights for content embeddings and summarization.
🤖 AI word of the week: “Heuristic”
A heuristic is a rule of thumb, i.e., it’s a shortcut or simplified approach used to solve problems quickly when perfect answers would take too long or be too complex. Heuristics are used in algorithms to solve problems faster when perfect answers aren’t available.
In AI, heuristics are used to make fast decisions that are good enough given the lack of a clearly “best” solution.
For example, when packing a suitcase, rather that weighing every item and measuring its size to configure the perfect packing situation, we might use a heuristic like “pack the larger items first and then fit in the smaller ones.”
😄 Introduction to week 103: “Who are we writing for?”
I was a big proponent of creating helpful, people-first content. I still am.
That said, the direction of conversations around content these days tends to be more machine-focused.
Whether it’s writing in machine-friendly chunks or even preparing for an agentic web, I’m worried are we losing the plot?
Is the onus on us to write for the machines, or is it on the machines to summarize content the way we’d naturally write it for one another?
I accept that we’re moving from pages to passages in an AI-first world, but my preference still lies with creating human-first content.
Call if a long game.
Thank you for supporting Hamsterdam and the cause of SEO & AI learning. 🙏
Enjoy the vibes:
Missed last week? Don’t worry, I got you! Read Part 102 to catch up.
🌟 Other great sources of weekly SEO news:
- The SEO Weekly – Garret Sussman, iPullRank
- SEOFOMO – Aleyda Solis
- Weekly Video Recaps – Barry Schwartz, SER
- Weekly SEO News YouTube channel – Olga Zarr, Seosly
- Niche Surfer – Yoyao Hsueh
Time for our weekly review of SEO social posts, articles, & more …
Now, let’s step inside the white flags of Hamsterdam …
⏩ Jump to a section:
- News, Google updates, & SERP tests
- SEO tips & tidbits
- Fundamentals & resources
- Articles, videos & case studies
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO
- Content marketing
- Local SEO
- Data analysis & reporting
- AI, LLMS, & machine learning
- Miscellaneous & general posts
- Older stuff that’s good!
Or keep scrolling to see it all. ⏬
📰 SEO news, Google updates, SERP tests & notable posts
Notable updates or news related to Google Search or related SEO topics.
🍟 SEO tips & tidbits
Actionable tips, cool tidbits, and other snackable findings and observations that can be teaching moments.
Essential information, concepts, or resources to learn about SEO or AI.
Longer-form content pieces shared on social, in newsletters, and elsewhere.
🧑💻 Technical SEO
Everything from basics to advanced moves (and also tools).
✍️ Content marketing
From what is helpful content to user journeys and beyond.
📍 Local SEO
From Google Business Profiles to reviews and more!
📊 Data analysis & reporting
Showing that what you’re doing is helping.
🤖 AI, machine learning, & LLMs
News related to models, papers, and companies.
🤔 General marketing & miscellaneous
This is for great content that isn’t necessarily SEO or marketing-specific. PPC, PR, dev, design, and social friends, check it out!
💎 Older stuff that’s good!
Not everything I find worth sharing is new as of this week, so these are gems I came across published in the past.
Great job making it to the end. You rock! 🪨
Let’s connect!
Hit me up anytime via text or call at 813-557-9745 or on social or email:
Cheers! ✌️
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