Ethan Lazuk

SEO & marketing professional.

Hamsterdam Part 29: SEO News Recap from 10/23 to 10/29

By Ethan Lazuk

Last updated:

A weekly look-back at SEO news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.

Hamsterdam Part 29 SEO Recap with Danny Sullivan quote.

Quote source: Google Search Central

Opening notes:

New Top Posts Section: I realized even organizing the content how I do in this article can leave it hard to get a quick synopsis of the biggest items, so I’ve added a “Top posts” section to the start. This will have a handful of the most important news updates or helpful tips — as I see them, anyway. 😉

Newsletter Available: If you’d like to receive these Hamsterdam weekly updates to your inbox, please email me at ethan.lazuk@gmail.com. I’ll have a form up soon!

*Feel free to jump down to the recap, or keep reading for an introduction and summary of the week’s news!

Introduction to week 29: “SEO Content”

I’ve worked in different types of digital marketing agencies over the years, including ones where SEO was a core focus and others where SEO was one of many channels.

It’s nice when SEO has buy-in from top decision makers, because it opens up more opportunities for practitioners and clients alike.

That said, working in a multi-channel environment can help place SEO within the broader digital marketing strategy, letting one appreciate just how overarching of a role SEO plays, or how much outside decisions impact its performance.

The more SEO is integrated within decisions around website development and design, paid media or email campaigns, social media and UGC practices, and on and on, the more cohesive a brand’s marketing efforts can be.

This has long been true, and it’s only getting more so in the present age.

“SEO content” is not just a well-optimized blog post or location page. It’s a layer of considerations that weave in and out of a brand’s entire online presence and strategy and their audience’s buyer’s journey.

Every so often when I see something notable in a SERP, I’ll snap a screenshot and share it on X. This week I was in a Google test where the Perspectives filter was shown on desktop.

If you’re not familiar with the Perspectives filter, it’s a topic bubble (as I call them) above Google’s mobile results that, when clicked, returns “experiences of others,” as Google explained in its May announcement, in the form of social media, videos, forum posts, and other content. A lot of it is UGC, but some comes from known brands or people relevant to the query.

I find the Perspectives filter fascinating, and was excited to see it on desktop, because I think it contributes to an expansive definition of what “SEO content” means by involving other channels (notably social media) and media formats.

We also saw this week how user photos may play a bigger role in search on Google Maps (more about the update in the recap below), or how customer photos may even be used in product knowledge panels in Search.

A noteworthy post this week was Rand Fishkin’s blog article about his experience with Moz. I’ll let you read his thoughtful words for yourself below. But in last week’s Hamsterdam recap, I included a post of his from a 5 minute whiteboard for SparkToro where he talked about influencing AI chat answers through “content marketing and through PR and through outreach and sources-of-influence style marketing.”

This led to me start auditing the sources behind AI chat answers for branded queries, notably on Bing chat, and observing how press releases and other PR materials were being quoted.

These are just a few examples of content types beyond traditional blogs (although we’ll also see below how popular blog content is in Search below) from the greater marketing mix that also play a role in today’s SEO.

Lastly, this brings me to a Duda webinar from this week (also included in the recap below), where Ross Simmonds talked about “SERP domination,” mentioning TikTok and Reddit and how SEO “starts to be marketing” by accounting for all the different content types found on Search.

Instead of a video clip from The Wire this week, I’ll include a song from the band Puscifer. I’m a huge TOOL fan, and this is a project from its lead singer. For those new to these bands, or who have preconceived notions of TOOL, the style may surprise you. But ultimately, it’s the lyrics I find notable in this context.

Buckle up for a full week’s recap, and enjoy the vibes:

Summary of the week’s SEO news and content

  • There was healthy discussion about content this week, thanks largely to Danny Sullivan replying to people on X from the Google SearchLiaison account.
  • I saw someone share a screenshot today of how searches for “helpful content update” have declined per Google Trends. What I see across social is quite the opposite; discussion continues to be strong.
  • The October core update completed rolling out last week, yet the discussion still revolves around the aftermath and implications of September’s helpful content update.
  • Perhaps consequently, it also seems like attitudes toward AI tools are swaying in the direction of, yes it can be helpful for creating efficiencies, but there aren’t really shortcuts in Search, just like life lol.
  • We also got further confirmation about how impactful Core Web Vitals are (or more accurately, aren’t), and tips for how to address traffic or rankings losses after a core update.
  • Ads appeared between organic search results, just as more people correlated the helpful content system’s impacts with vignette ads, autoplay ads, and other aggressive forms of advertising that hurt UX.
  • We saw additional testing of SGE features and formats, as well as more Google updates for images and Google Maps.
  • There also seems to be more helpful ecommerce tips being shared, likely given the upcoming shopping season in many parts of the world.

But don’t just take my word for it! All of this info and more is contained below in the weekly recap.

Notes:

  • If the article times out on mobile, my apologies. Please try viewing on a desktop or WiFi.
  • I’ve cut back on the amount of info I include; if you’d like to see more, scrolling through my likes on X or following the people in this recap is probably the best place to start. 😉

Missed last week’s recap? Don’t worry, I got you! Read Part 28 to catch up.

Okay, time for (home)work.

The Big Lebowski is this your homework Larry scene.

Jump to a section of this week’s recap

Enjoy the recap below! And please support content you find valuable with a like or follow. 🙂

Top posts

These are key news items, tips, or other content I felt were relevant to highlight for the week, particularly if you just want a quick glance.

This is essential reading. I’ve included many of Danny Sullivan’s replies on X in the below tips and tidbits section as well.
The “Find inspiration for things to do with new ways to search” feels particularly noteworthy for SEOs, given the implications of “photo-first results.”
Learning more about RAG and seeing Raggle in action (and testing it) were helpful context, as was the discussions around content strategy in an SGE era, which tends to be one of my favorite topics.
My takeaways from this were vast, but especially Shelley Walsh’s point about “strategists on steroids” and Ross Simmonds point about “SERP domination,” which starts around the 51-minute mark.

SEO news, Google updates, & SERP tests

These are newsworthy events in the SEO world from the last week or SERP tests to be aware of.

Thanks Barry for including my finding!

SEO tips & tidbits

This section has actionable tips, cool tidbits, or other findings and observations that can be teaching moments.

SEO fundamentals & resources

If you’re new to SEO, this section includes essential information, concepts, or resources to learn more about.

Articles, videos, case studies & more

These are longer-form content shared on social.

Google’s Broad Core Algorithm Updates: Important Points And Frequently Answered Questions For Site Owners And SEOs – Glenn Gabe

This was packed with great information, particularly about the growth in people entities and how Wikipedia isn’t as important for knowledge panels as it once was. If you prefer, you can also read about the information in the article below.

Local SEO

If you’re into local Search, this section is for you!

Technical SEO

Yep, it still matters. 😉

Content marketing

What’d SEO be without content?

Tools, AI & reporting

Here’s a recap of updates to tools, and new tools, along with tips for reporting on data.

Humor

Humor is subjective; hopefully, you find these funny as well!

Go forward a few months, and you’ll see why I moved this to the humor section.

General Marketing & Miscellaneous

This is for great content that isn’t necessarily SEO (i.e., PPC, PR, dev, and content friends check it out!) or even marketing-specific.

Seth Godin Explains Imposter Syndrome (Watch on TikTok)

3 Tips to Become a Better Writer – Daniel Pink (Watch on TikTok)

Great job making it to the end. You rock!

Show your support for creators: If you liked any of the content shared above, please support that person by liking their post or following them. 🙂

Hungry for more? Check out the past weeks of Hamsterdam.

Or sign up for the newsletter! (Until I get the form back up and running, feel free to shoot me an email to get added to the list.)

Want to work together on your brand’s SEO?

I’m currently taking clients for SEO and content audits and strategy consulting, and soon training. You can learn more about me on my about page.

Get in touch: hit me up on social at @EthanLazuk, by text or call at 813-557-9745, or via email at ethan.lazuk@gmail.com.

Cheers!

SEO Strategist u0026amp; Consultant

Ethan Lazuk

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