Industry News

I see signals, both in terms of SEO chatter and some of the Google Search tracking tools, of more volatility in the Google Search results. The volatility is algorithm update levels and can either be a new Google search ranking algorithm update or it can be the tail-end of the ongoing December 2022 Google helpful content update and link spam updates.

Itamar Gilad recently published a good post on Feature Factories vs. Value Generators. It starts off with some basic definitions that should be familiar to most readers, but the second half expands on the responsibilities product orgs have to ensure a successful transition away from feature factories. We can’t just sit back and hope the rest of the organization goes along—there’s a very important organizational change element here:

The product org needs to stop viewing itself as a...

Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, said on Twitter on Friday afternoon that the December 2022 helpful content update and December 2022 link spam update may take an additional two weeks to complete. He said it will finish "likely within two weeks, maybe only one, but that's not a guarantee. Timings might change."

I am currently reading Nest creator Tony Fadell’s book Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making. I will likely have some longer thoughts on it once I’m done, but I just finished the chapter on product management and it’s so good that I had to write up some quick highlights and notes. I haven’t read something that made me feel this inspired about the importance of what we do in a long time.

First, it’s always fascinating to me how different people define this undefinable...

As the Google December 2022 helpful content update and link spam update continue to roll out, I am now seeing more signs of volatility and chatter within the SEO industry in the past 24 hours. It seems like there is another algorithm update, or maybe a continuation from the previous ones, taking place on January 3rd and 4th.

Welcome back from the holidays, don't worry; you didn't miss much. The December 2022 helpful content update and December 2022 link spam update are not done yet. They should be done soon, but right now, when I write this, they are not done.

David Hoang wades into the treacherous waters of the Should managers be technical? debate, and IMO comes out safely on the other side. I really like the 3 points he makes towards the end to articulate his point of view. I won’t spoil it because it’s worth reading the whole post. There’s one other bit I wanted to comment on, though:

The key roles of managers are to set expectations, ensure the team is operating efficiently, and maximize the output of the people on your team. In order...

Welcome to 2023, and with that, here is our Google webmaster report for 2023 - where we summarize the bigger Google SEO-related changes in the past month. The big items were the release of the December 2022 helpful content update and the December 2022 link spam update.

Via Chris Coyier I found this great post by Karl Sutt on How to communicate effectively as a developer. I especially appreciate him pointing out the importance of communicating clearly in short-form writing like Slack messages. His example of “low-resolution” vs. “high-resolution” writing in that context is a useful reminder for all of us:



In both cases, the example on the left is what I call “low-resolution writing”. There is very little context, too much reliance on pronouns...

While it has been calm for the past several days, today is a new day and I am seeing some signs of more volatility and ranking fluctuations as of the past 24 hours or less. Some of the automated tracking tools are picking it up, and I am seeing some renewed chatter in the SEO industry.