Hamsterdam Part 40: SEO News Recap from 1/8 to 1/14, 2024
By Ethan Lazuk
Last updated:
A weekly look-back at SEO news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.
Quote source: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Opening notes:
This is a special edition of Hamsterdam! Not only because it’s the 40th week in a row, but because it falls on the eve of MLK Day in the U.S.
*Feel free to jump down to the recap, but in this case, I’ll hope you can keep reading for a few minutes for a special introduction. 🙂
Introduction to week 40: “Misunderstanding will be lifted”
This was the first busy week for SEO news in the new year! There’s a lot to go through in the summary and full recap below.
However, given that Monday, January 15th, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the U.S., I’d like to focus this introduction on him.
I’d venture a guess that every child in the U.S. (and hopefully many people around the world) are familiar with MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Here is a transcript, and here is the speech in 4K and color on YouTube, where I think the vividness of the video helps remind us that these events didn’t happen that long ago, and that the message itself is timeless.
I was also fortunate enough to study MLK as a graduate student at Johns Hopkins, where I was introduced to another piece of his content that I’d like to share with you today.
It’s called “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”
This letter was written by MLK in 1963 while he was in jail for participating in the Birmingham Campaign.
This was a desegregation campaign that began on April 2nd, 1963, where King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference joined with a local movement (the ACMHR) in a direct action campaign against the city’s segregation system.
The campaign involved sit-ins, marches, and boycotts of local merchants in an effort to put economic pressure on them during the Easter season, a busy shopping time.
King was arrested on Good Friday, April 12th, for violating an anti-protest injunction. He was kept in solitary confinement until April 20th, when thanks to the intervention of his wife, Coretta Scott King, and the Kennedy administration, he was able to make bail.
King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was written on the margins of a newspaper in response to a statement from eight local clergymen who condemned the protest.
A formatted PDF transcript of the letter is available from the Bill of Rights Institute. An analysis of the letter is available from The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.
If this MLK letter is new to you, I hope you’ll get an opportunity to learn more about it from the sources above.
Here are excerpts I find notable and powerful:
“My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily. …
For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” …
Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. …
Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood, Martin Luther King, Jr.
– “Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]”, African Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania
It’s hard not to be impacted by the sentiments of the full letter, or the circumstances in which it was penned. I hope its words contribute to your appreciation of MLK Day as they do mine.
It’s worth pointing out that here in Orlando, our city has a rich history of black culture. One neighborhood with rich history is Parramore.
It’s a vibrant area with the UCF downtown campus, the Kia Center and Exploria Stadium, homes to the Orlando Magic and Orlando City MLS team, as well as amazing street art, including the Still I Rise mural that I took a snapshot of this morning:
Parramore is also home to the Wells’Built Museum of African American History and Culture.
You can take a video tour of the museum’s MLK section, thanks to Shawn Rosell.
Update on 1/15:
Today my wife Dania and I visited the Wells’Built Museum. It was a powerful experience. I learned some new history and took a few photos, which I’d like to share with you!
The first new thing I learned is the history of Division Street. I walk across this street, which runs east to west in downtown Orlando, almost on a nightly basis. I never thought much of it before.
The Wells’Built Museum is on the north side of Division Street, just across from the Kia Center. Having studied history in college, I believe it’s always shaped through the lens of those telling it. Whether or not Division Street marked an actual line of demarcation between black and white communities, or the name has another history, the fact remains Orlando was a segregated city.
Orlando’s history of segregation began in the 1920s. In subsequent decades, the Parramore neighborhood, mentioned above, was a part of that history, and it became an economic hub of African-American culture in Central Florida.
Sometimes words can’t do a topic justice, though. So I hope you’ll also get a chance to look at these images from the museum and read the stories behind them:
If you visit Orlando or live here and plan to head to an event at the Kia Center, I hope you’ll get a chance to visit the Wells’Built Museum. You can also make a donation to them here.
As SEO professionals and marketers, we can influence the experiences people have when accessing the information they need.
Whether it’s making a website accessible to everyone or using content in an inclusive way, I hope everyone feels inspired and hopeful this weekend.
Buckle up for a full week’s recap, and please enjoy One Fine Day by The Chiffons from 1963:
Summary of the week’s SEO news and content
- The Verge published another less-than-flattering article about SEO. No alligators this time, and it does make some good points, but all-in-all I’d say it’s based on an agenda.
- Danny Sullivan, as the Google Search Liaison, posted a reminder on X that there is no “‘perfect page’ formula that must be used to rank highly on Google Search.”
- Glenn Gabe wrote a great article covering content quality, user-engagement signals, and the Google Navboost ranking system.
- Olaf Kopp wrote a great overview about how Google can identify entities in unstructured information for its knowledge graph and more.
- The Rabbit R1 pocket companion was introduced in an exciting keynote and holds interesting implications for user journeys and the role of natural language interfaces.
- Mike Blumenthal wrote a great summary of Google’s announcement about shutting down GBP websites and redirecting them to the business’s main profile.
But don’t just take my word for it! All of this info and more is contained below in the weekly recap.
Quick note: due to the amount of embeds in this recap, I had to remove some content to improve the mobile experience. You can see more by viewing my likes on X or following the folks below.
Missed last week’s recap? Don’t worry, I got you! Read Part 39 to catch up.
Thank you for supporting Hamsterdam and helping make SEO fun and accessible for everyone! 🙂
Okay, time for (home)work.
Jump to a section of this week’s recap
- Top posts
- News, Google updates, & SERP tests
- SEO tips & tidbits
- Fundamentals & resources
- Articles, videos & case studies
- Local SEO
- Technical SEO
- Content marketing
- SEO tools, AI & reporting
- Humor section
- Miscellaneous & general posts
Enjoy the recap below! And please support content you find valuable with a like or follow. 🙂
Top posts
These are highlights of news items, tips, or other content for the week. Great for when you just want a quick recap!
SEO news, Google updates, & SERP tests
These are newsworthy events in the SEO world, search engine updates, or SERP tests to be aware of from the last week.
SEO tips & tidbits
This section has actionable tips, cool tidbits, and other findings and observations that can be teaching moments.
SEO fundamentals & resources
If you’re new to SEO, this section is for you and includes essential information, concepts, or resources to learn more.
Articles, videos, case studies & more
These are longer-form content pieces shared on social and elsewhere.
How Schema Affects Rankings in Google: Is Markup a Ranking Factor? – Valentina Izzo and Steve Wiideman, WordLift
A little late finding this one, but worth a read!
Local SEO
If you’re into local Search, this section is for you!
Technical SEO
Everything from basics to advanced techniques.
Content marketing
What’d SEO be without helpful content?
Tools, AI & reporting
Here’s a recap of AI news, SEO tool updates, new tools, along with tips for reporting on data.
Humor
Humor is subjective; these are funny!
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!
Great job making it to the end. You rock!
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Hungry for more? Check out the past weeks of Hamsterdam.
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I’m an independent SEO strategist and consultant based in Orlando. Currently, I’m taking new clients in 2024. Please visit my about page to learn more about me.
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Thanks for supporting Hamsterdam and SEO in general. 🙂
Cheers!
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