🐹 Hamsterdam Part 107: Weekly SEO & AI News Recap (7/12 to 7/18, 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! 🙌
- Hopefully the June 2025 Core Update treated you well!
- I published a new blog post about Google’s query fan-out technique. Check it out!
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: “Long-tail (keyword)”
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific search phrases. They target a narrower audience than head terms but offer a more exact intent.
Long-tail keywords tend to have lower search volumes but higher conversion potential (because the searcher knows more of what they want).
For that reason, we tend to see long-tail keywords associated with generative-AI answers like AIOs and AI Mode.
Compared to head terms, longer-tail keywords were less competitive, but that was before the advent of generative AI, which now satisfies a lot of upper-funnel intent.
An example of a long-tail keyword might be “women’s running shoes for flat feet,” compared to a head term like “running shoes” it has a more precise intent and lower volume, but again, higher conversion potential.
🤖 AI word of the week: “LLM”
A large language model (LLM) is a type of AI that’s trained on massive amounts of data to understand, predict, and generate human‑like language.
ChatGPT gives the analogy of an LLM being like a search engine’s brain “on overdrive” — rather than just matching keywords, an LLM interprets intent, context, and relationships between words. For us as SEOs, this means LLMs power the way modern search understands queries, rephrases them (think query fan-out), and surfaces answers that go beyond exact‑match keywords.
As far as SEO strategy goes, LLMs change how content is discovered and ranked. LLMs reward pages that clearly demonstrate expertise, authority, and relevance because the model is looking for language patterns that satisfy user intent, not just keywords.
Structuring content around real questions, providing depth and clarity, and optimizing for natural language aligns with how LLMs process information. Understanding LLMs helps us create content that search engines can interpret semantically and present confidently in AI‑powered results.
😄 Introduction to week 107: “Back on the horse”
I published my first new blog post in a while about Google’s query fan-out technique.
Back when I was a consultant, I used to write in my blog almost daily, but since becoming an SEO director, I haven’t had the same time available.
There’s something about blogging that I find therapeutic and exciting — the thrill of seeing your work floating in the search ecosystem — so I hope to do more of it soon.
Stay tuned for more new posts, hopefully. ✌️
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 106 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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