Ethan Lazuk

SEO Strategist & Consultant

Hamsterdam Part 33: SEO News Recap from 11/20 to 11/26

By Ethan Lazuk

Last updated:

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

Hamsterdam Part 33 SEO recap with quote from John Mueller.

Quote source: SERoundtable

Opening notes:

I’ve added a local SEO section, just to help further divide the info for scannability.

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

Introduction to week :

Google released the November 2023 core update on the 2nd, and the reviews update — the last one we’ll hear about publicly — started a week later on the 8th.

As of today, both updates are still rolling out …

That makes the November core update at least 25 days long and counting.

We’re used to these updates lasting about 2 weeks.

John Mueller said the reason for the length is partly doing “things incrementally for safety.”

However, nothing in Google’s Search Central documentation on core updates says anything about length of roll outs:

“Several times a year, Google makes significant, broad changes to our search algorithms and systems. We refer to these as core updates, and we give notice when they happen on our list of Google Search ranking updates. Core updates are designed to ensure that overall, we’re delivering on our mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers.”

– Google Search Central, Google Search’s core updates and your website

I’ve got an older article about search ranking volatility from the summer, which I think I’ll update again after these latest updates settle.

I’ve also been working on an article about creating helpful, people-first content, which has been a strange journey so far, as the more I’ve tried to improve the article, the fewer keywords and lower positions it seems to rank for lol — but I also think it’s just an adjustment period.

Part of the fun of SEO for me, on my own site anyway, is publishing articles, then trying to improve them in dramatic intervals, and watching what impact that has. In my opinion, the idea of doing things for Google/SEO only if you’d also do them for your users has merit, but also involves some trust!

There are instances where I do something to an article that I think is better for a user, and then watch Google’s ranking systems respond by decreasing rankings or visibility to the page lol. That said, my website’s content tends to rank better on Google Search than Bing, at least for queries unrelated to my name. So, maybe I should be more vocally grateful for “hidden gems” improvements and other efforts to elevate content that aligns with the double E’s in E-E-A-T. 😉

Speaking of visibility, I’ve seen some sites getting hit traffic-wise by these latest updates, namely October’s core update, which is tied to a different core system than this ongoing November one.

“There’s nothing wrong with pages that may not be performing as well as they were before a core update. They haven’t violated our spam policies, nor been subjected to a manual or algorithmic action, as can happen to pages that do violate those policies. In fact, there’s nothing in a core update that targets specific pages or sites. Instead, the changes are about improving how our systems assess content overall. These changes may cause some pages that were previously under-rewarded to do better in search results.”

– How core updates work (Google Search’s core updates and your website)

I’d bet we’ll see the conclusion of these two updates early this week.

The hard part will be doing comparative reporting to inform Q1 strategy planning.

You generally want to avoid over-analyzing rankings data during the period of a major update, as well as making any major site changes.

When an update is two weeks long, that’s generally not a huge deal. We wait for a week or so (and ideally longer, I’d say) after it’s finished rolling out, then compare that data to an equal time period before it rolled out.

But when an update is nearly a month long itself, that only leaves a bit of time in December to do comparative analysis and incorporate those findings into Q1 strategies.

That said, as I tell site owners often — if you’re following search engine guidelines and creating uniquely valuable and high-quality content that’s satisfying to users and aligns conceptually with Google’s SQRG and E-E-A-T, then you’ll likely weather the storm of updates and likely come out the other side happier. 🙂

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

Summary of the week’s SEO news and content

  • The November 2023 core update and reviews update are still rolling out, perhaps the longest core update in history.
  • Google updated its Search Quality Raters Guidelines
  • Bard now understands YouTube videos better.
  • Dawn Anderson wrote a tremendous piece on SEL about the future of human quality raters in light of AI systems.
  • Overall, not as many big items from Google as last week, but a lot of good stuff nonetheless.

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 32 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 an impressive analysis. I’m always considerate of Danny Sullivan’s brightonSEO comment that if you “chase the algorithm” you’re behind, and if you chase what user’s want, you’re ahead. But I also think, in many cases, Google knows our users better than we do. And to give users what they want, that content has to be visible to them — i.e., ranking in relevant search results. It’s a nuanced point, but studying ranking systems, as part of a user-first SEO strategy, has tremendous value IMO.

Google’s 2023 Search quality rater guidelines update: Here’s what changed – Lily Ray, Search Engine Land

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.

SEO tips & tidbits

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

I make my title tags (and H1s) unique in my blog articles, usually with a reference to a song lyric. On Search, however, Google tends to show the most generic part, which makes the article seem “more normal” IMO. What’s best for a user? I guess the truth lies somewhere between creativity and boring. I agree with the sentiment here, but also hear some of the comments saying, “it works!” Do you.
Dan Shure LinkedIn post about Google Discover.

SEO fundamentals & resources

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

Don’t miss this slide deck!

Articles, videos, case studies & more

These are longer-form content shared on social.

This is an article from earlier in the month that I missed, but I wanted to highlight it now because it gets at the heart of certain trends and offers a healthy dose of reality.
This is a great accompaniment to Dawn Anderson’s SEL article, also in this recap.

How SEO and digital PR can drive maximum brand visibility – Dale Hanstad, Search Engine Land

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!

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.

Want to throw support behind Nick for sharing this! Mental health is just as important as physical health or going to the gym. Let’s normalize that!

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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