Hamsterdam Part 20: SEO News Recap from 8/20 to 8/26, 2023
By Ethan Lazuk
Last updated:
A weekly look-back at SEO news, tips, and other content shared on social media & beyond.
Quote source: Google Search Central
Opening notes:
*Feel free to jump down to the recap, or keep reading for an introduction and summary of the week’s news!
Introduction to week 20: Darkness Falls
I can’t believe it’s week 20 of these already! I started compiling the X Files articles (now called Hamsterdam) to reference and get refreshed on any SEO tweets that I liked from the past few days. Originally the X-Files theme was done as a joke — the X-File series and movies were playing regularly in our household when I was a kid, so it’s nostalgic for me — but Twitter rebranding to X a few weeks ago now made that reference make sense lol, so I’ll continue running with it.
Since this is week 20 of Hamsterdam (The X Files), I’ll include a featured image from the series’ 20th episode, Darkness Falls.
Darkness Falls, episode 20 of season 1 of The X-Files, is what’s known as a “Monster-of-the-Week” story. In other words, it has a standalone plot that’s connected to the wider mythology of the show. (Credit Wikipedia for that tidbit!) In a way, that’s appropriate for this week, where we had Google’s August 2023 Core Update. Although Google launches thousands of changes to Search each year (I mention that more in a rankings volatility article), they typically only launch 3-4 core updates. Like the plot of Darkness Falls, these updates are announced as standalone updates, yet they connect to the wider plot that is Google’s goals for its ranking systems.
In Darkness Falls, a group of loggers disappear, just like can happen to a website’s rankings during a core update. 😉 While Mulder and Scully initially suspect eco-terrorists, the agents later discover it was a swarm of small glowing green insects. Similarly, like with a core update, or any change in rankings, it’s tempting to look for one obvious cause. However, like in Darkness Falls, the answer may be a bit more complex, and it could be lots of little things that add up. (Glenn Gabe calls this taking a kitchen sink approach to remediation.)
As you’ll see in the advice shared in the tweets below, it’s not a good use of time trying to reverse engineer Google’s ranking systems. Instead, spend that effort on making a site your users will love, and that satisfies the criteria of what Google’s helpful content and other rankings systems are looking for today, and where it wants its results to go, like via SGE, tomorrow.
Buckle up for a full week’s recap.
Summary of the week’s SEO news and content
- The big news this week was Google’s August 2023 Core Update. You can find news about when it launched as well as tips about preparing for, responding to, and monitoring core updates below on this page. There are also some relevant articles, tools, and reporting tips.
- Also of note, links returned to SGE (personally my SGE experience doesn’t have links back yet though), along with other changes reported.
- Some Hamsterdam weeks have more SEO tips, others more articles, and others more humorous tweets. This week seemed low on humor (maybe due to core update tensions lol), but it was an article-heavy week. Several great case studies and summaries around ranking systems and SGE were shared. There’s also been more information provided lately around structured data, entities, and semantic SEO, including discussions on the dynamics between knowledge graphs and large language models. These are mentioned in the tips and articles sections as well.
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 19 to catch up.
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 key news items, tips, or other content I felt were relevant to highlight for the week, particularly if you just want a quick glance.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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