It's been almost a year since I started actively learning Spanish. In that time, I've managed 300 hours of study.

Why am I learning Spanish?

There are several reasons:

• I'm always looking for ways to take my work to the next level.
• Spanish is an attractive language.
• It allows you to communicate with a huge number of people around the world.
• We travel to the Canary Islands, where Spanish is spoken.

Over the year, however, that has changed a bit. As I discovered the magic of Latin America, I'm now learning more to use Spanish in the streets of Buenos Aires and by the seven lakes in Bariloche 🙂

Traditional Learning Methods and Their Limits

I had struggled with learning Spanish before in various stages. Like many people, I installed an app like Duolingo and tried to learn with its help.

If you want to go this route, I recommend Babbel. You have an app, but you combine it with classic lessons with a tutor (in a group or 1:1). You can attend as many lessons as you want, and the app is included in the price. They also have a lot of extra materials (podcasts of different levels, etc.). The service is called Babbel Live and costs €79 per month. If you take 3 lessons a week, it comes out to €6 per lesson. You won't find that anywhere else.

Unfortunately, this method didn't work very well for me personally. Studying grammar, vocabulary, and isolated phrases is not something that suits me. It's a way of studying that requires you to sit down and study. That's not sustainable for me in real life, because there are always more important things to do.

It was hard for me to maintain consistency, which is absolutely key to learning a new language.

Learning Without Torture: Comprehensible Input

One day, I came across the Comprehensible Input method. This method promises that you will learn the language more slowly, but better. In an easy way, purely through consuming content in the target language.

It's nothing groundbreaking - you've surely heard from someone that they learned a second language by watching series on Netflix.

It intrigued me because this is exactly how I learned English and how I have improved the most throughout my life.

How Comprehensible Input Works

Learning with the Comprehensible Input method focuses first on listening. As a student, you start by listening to simple sentences and conversations, which are supplemented with pictures and various drawings.

These visual aids help you understand what the speaker is trying to express, and you start connecting words with their meaning in your head.

But for this method to work and be effective, it is necessary to focus on content that is just a tiny bit more difficult than what you can currently handle.

So you start by watching a video, like this one:

You can't just start watching La casa de papel in the original and hope that in a little while you'll be speaking like Tokio.

You need to understand what is happening in the story well - only then can your brain take care of filling in the gaps of what it doesn't yet understand.

Key Principles of the Method:

• Context is the foundation of learning - you always see a given expression in some context. Never as a flashcard to memorize.
• You start with simple content full of visual aids.
• You postpone reading and speaking until later, much later. Learning grammar is optional and is rather not recommended at the beginning.
• It's important to primarily consume content that interests you and that relates to topics that are personally relevant to you - only then will you better maintain your attention.

Dreaming Spanish: My Main Learning Source

At the beginning of your learning journey, it is quite difficult to find suitable content. With limited knowledge, you need a lot of visual aids, and it's not always easy to find interesting content for absolute beginners.

And this is where the website Dreaming Spanish enters the story, which tries to fill this gap. They have focused on creating content tailored for people trying to learn Spanish.

Dreaming Spanish creates content that is diverse enough for everyone to find something that interests them and that will be appropriate for their level.

I have to say that they have succeeded very well because I started with content for absolute beginners and I never felt like I had to force it or that their content bored me. There was always something interesting to find that could be a relatively fun way to spend time.

And of course, as you get further on your journey, it's great that a much larger amount of more interesting content opens up to you so it becomes easier to listen more and more during the day.

Advantages of Learning from Authentic Content

Learning a language through authentic content from native speakers has a huge number of advantages:

• You encounter different dialects from day one - you hear Spanish from Spain, Mexico, Argentina. Their differences become completely normal to you.
• You naturally perceive differences in pronunciation - which is always only theoretical in textbooks.
• You learn the language as people actually use it - including informal expressions and words they use from English.
• You avoid overly formal phrases that no one uses in normal communication.

When using traditional methods, you have explanations of how given sounds are pronounced and what the differences are, but it looks abstract in a textbook. Even if you hear simple listening exercises with different pronunciation variants, it is still very theoretical.

With the Comprehensible Input method, one moment you're listening to a Spaniard, the next a girl from Argentina, and then an abuelita from Mexico, and you naturally hear the differences.

My Progress After 300 Hours

I started learning Spanish with this method in the summer of 2024, and I have currently passed the milestone of reaching 300 hours of listening. That's an average of one hour per day.

I started as a complete beginner, although I had tried various apps, a few online lessons, and so on before. It can't be said that I knew anything besides a few words.

My Study Breakdown:

• Majority (approx. 65-70%) - videos from Dreaming Spanish
• About 15-20% - similar videos from YouTube
• About 10-15% - podcasts (only at a later stage, when I no longer needed as many visual aids)

Currently, I am purely listening - that means I don't read in Spanish, I don't try to speak, but I really try to listen and improve my comprehension.

What I Can Currently Handle:

I try to listen to a wide spectrum of difficulties. From the animated series Pocoyo, through Dreaming Spanish, to selected native content on YouTube.

The maximum I can currently handle with sufficient comprehension is a video like this one:

Future Plans:

My plan is to get to 600 hours reasonably quickly, meaning I need to add another 300 hours. At that point, I would like to start reading and probably gradually start speaking.

But most importantly, I'm happy that I've stuck with it so far - that never happened with other methods.

Unexpected Benefits of Studying Spanish

Getting to know Latin America was something I didn't expect and it pleasantly surprised me. My primary motivation was to learn Spanish for Spain, and Latin America was something distant for me.

Culturally and by distance, it is really far for us from Europe. I didn't know much about countries like Argentina, Colombia, or Venezuela, and their portrayal in Netflix series doesn't help much.

It was through learning that I began to understand much better what life is like in these countries, and it opened my eyes immensely. I learned a lot about the culture and the whole context of what life is probably like there. What a fun journey!

It Feels Like Cheating!

Another interesting discovery is that the Comprehensible Input method is actually a very "lazy" method.

You simply continue to watch what you would normally watch, whether for relaxation or pure procrastination, in the language you want to learn.

This means that you learn very passively and at one point you realize that learning a language is not some revolutionary skill, but that with enough consistency and long-term effort, you will simply learn it, whether you want to or not. Sometimes it feels a bit like cheating.

Who is This Method Suitable For?

Who would I recommend this method to?

It is not suitable for:

• People who want to learn basic phrases for a vacation
• Those who need to quickly master the basics for a specific purpose
• Impatient students who expect quick results

It is ideal for:

• Busy professionals who want to learn a language thoroughly
• Those who are serious about learning a language long-term
• People who dislike the traditional "school" approach to learning
• Those who prefer a passive way of learning without much mental effort

The method postpones active speaking until you have listened for 600, 800, or 1000 hours. Only at that point it's expected that you have the correct image in your ears of how the language should sound so you don't develop bad habits.

At the same time, because it is a long-term effort and you are exposed to native content and real culture, after years you will probably be a little closer to a native speaker than someone who uses traditional methods.

How the Method Fits into a Busy Lifestyle

The key is that this method is compatible with a busy lifestyle because it does not require dedicated time for learning and does not drain valuable mental capacity 😄

How to integrate learning into your daily routine:

• Replace watching series, YouTube, or podcasts in your native language with content in Spanish. I know I will procrastinate, so this way I can at least procrastinate productively 🙂
• Use your time during sports - I listen to Spanish podcasts while running and it adds up.
• During chores and routine activities (cooking, cleaning), play Spanish content.
• Play Spanish content in the car or on the bus on your way to work.

This method allows for effective multitasking. Every day, you move forward without learning being exhausting.

Find Your Own Path

I would like to emphasize that the Comprehensible Input method is just one of many ways to learn a language. Although it suits me personally and brings results, I know that everyone has a different learning style, different preferences, and different life circumstances.

The great advantage of today is that we have a huge number of methods, approaches, and resources for learning a language. We can combine the best of several worlds - for example, supplementing a structured online course with listening to podcasts and occasional conversation with a native speaker through apps like Preply.

If you've tried one method and it doesn't work, it doesn't mean you don't have a talent for languages. It just means that you haven't yet found the right approach that will work for you.

I believe that there is a way that will suit you - whether it's a traditional course, an app, a private teacher, a language stay, or Comprehensible Input. Maybe it will be a combination of several approaches that you adapt to your needs.

The most important thing is to find a method that you enjoy enough to stick with it long-term. Because regardless of the chosen path, the key to success in language learning is consistency and perseverance. And that comes easiest when you are doing something you enjoy.

See you at 600 hours!

Resources and Useful Links

• More about the Comprehensible Input method
• Spreadsheet with links to podcasts, YouTube channels, and books by difficulty
• Website that ranks series, movies, and books by difficulty
• Learning another language? Here are links to resources by language

Remember the days when we all spent hours analyzing keywords in Excel or OpenRefine? Scrolling through thousands of rows, manually categorizing and evaluating relevance... Fortunately, those days are behind us. AI can now incredibly simplify and streamline this entire process.

Below I'm sharing a practical script that will help you get started with AI-powered keyword research.

Just copy it into Jupyter Notebook and you can start experimenting. If you're not an experienced programmer, don't worry - when you get stuck, use ChatGPT or another AI assistant to help customize the script exactly to your needs.

What's the magic in this?

The main advantage is the ability to process huge amounts of data at once. You can take a complete keyword export from Ahrefs or another SEO tool (easily tens of thousands of items) and let AI automatically classify them for you. You then work only with the filtered output, saving you hours of manual work.

AI often reveals connections between keywords that you might easily overlook during manual analysis. This helps you better understand user intent and structure your content more effectively.

How to get started with this script?

1. Install Jupyter Notebook - the easiest way is to download the Anaconda distribution, which includes Jupyter and all the necessary libraries
2. Create a new notebook and copy the code below into it
3. Get an API key from OpenAI:
   • Register on the OpenAI Platform
   • Generate a new key in the API keys section
   • Save the key to a .env file in the same directory as your notebook (format: OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key_here). Alternatively, you can enter the key directly when prompted by the script
4. Prepare your data - save your keyword file as keywords.csv in the same directory (make sure it contains a column named "Keyword")
5. Adjust the prompt - customize the product categories and domain description in the configuration section of the script. If you're unsure, let ChatGPT modify the prompt according to your needs. You can work real magic with this.
6. Run the script and watch AI automatically classify your keywords

Within moments, you'll have the foundation for professional keyword research that would otherwise take hours of manual work. All it takes is a few clicks and a bit of experimentation!

And now, the promised code:

Step 1: Install Packages

# Run this cell first to install required packages
!pip install python-dotenv pydantic tqdm pandas openai

Step 2: Configuration

Here you'll customize the prompt as needed. Let your imagination run wild.

The Search Generative Experience (SGE) feature in Google Search is currently the most anticipated event in SEO. There's no doubt that SGE is causing anxiety among SEOs and company stakeholders alike for several reasons:

• SGE can drastically change how people search and interact with search results, altering traditional SEO strategies.
• It potentially pushes traditional search results further down the page, making established positions much less visible and requiring new approaches to visibility.
• This change will likely lead to people spending more time on Google’s search results and less on actual websites, emphasizing the importance of optimizing for SGE.
• SGE selects sources differently, posing a threat to established sources while offering opportunities to those that effectively adapt to and leverage it.

Given these changes, it's crucial for SEOs to tweak their strategies. Adapting is key to not only keep up but also to stand out in this ever-changing search environment.

What Steps to Take?

There's a lot of uncertainty since this is a completely new thing. Every time, when there is the potential for a big change, it's hard to tell what is real and what is just hype.

We don't yet know if this is something people will want to use and in what shape or form. However, the trend towards instant answers has been clear for a long time.

Here are the key things I recommend anyone do in preparation for SGE:

1) Get clarity on your traffic and segments

Make sure you evaluate your SEO properly. Steer away from vanity metrics such as rankings and clicks from keywords that look nice in reports but don’t drive business revenue.

Detailed segmentation will help you see where to focus your efforts and it’ll help you better understand the impact of SGE on your business.

I expect that SGE will impact more prominently informational keywords and especially those where people are looking for quick information that only scratches the surface. These are probably not converting anyway.

Proper reporting can teach your clients to look at the right numbers and likely mitigate the perceived impact of SGE.

2) Study and experiment with SGE

See it in action. Experiment with SGE as much as possible. Don't miss out: visit Search Labs now and participate in the experiment.

Joining is free, and there’s no waiting list. All you need to do is use your personal Gmail account; Google Workspace accounts aren’t allowed.

SGE behaves differently for different types of queries. For some topics, it doesn’t show at all; for others, it appears almost always.

BrightEdge analyzed one billion queries in January 2024 and concluded that at the time of analysis healthcare, ecommerce, and B2B tech are the most affected by SGE. They also provide detailed reporting on SGE here.

Observe how it impacts your industry and your important keywords. Leverage this knowledge to tailor your SEO efforts more effectively.

3) Increase visibility in the era of SGE

If you see that SGE may significantly impact your business, start brainstorming what options you have to address this problem (or opportunity?).

You want to look into these areas:

• Comprehensive coverage in content: Create content that thoroughly covers topics within your niche. Generative AI can synthesize vast amounts of information, so having comprehensive, in-depth content may increase your visibility.
• Original value and unique perspectives in content: Focus on original research and unique points of view on a topic that Google could cite in SGE.
• Focus on content for long-tail, specific queries: Search is currently highly influenced by autosuggest, resulting in more uniform queries. With more conversational search and follow-up questions, this is likely to change, and people might start asking longer and very specific questions.
• Optimization of your SGE presence: When Google currently cites sources in SGE, only the first few words from your title/headline are displayed. Make sure the beginnings of your headlines are compelling for CTR. Also, ensure you have featured images, as these are used as well and can significantly influence CTR.

As we look into Google's new Search Generative Experience (SGE), there's a lot we still don't know. Will Google make this feature available for everyone? What will it finally look like? And how will it change which websites we see first in search results?

What do you think? How do you feel this might affect your website or the way you use Google? Drop your thoughts below and let's start a conversation. This is potentially a big deal, and figuring it out together could help us all.

In the past weeks, the question of whether recent developments in generative AI will disrupt SEO has become more frequent.

The ongoing advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs), Open AI, ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) suggest a significant shift in organic search results.

I've been experimenting in Google's generative AI and it's very interesting.

Just to give you one practical example: One of the popular articles on my blog is essentially a how to guide on changing your location in Google Shopping.

When you ask Google (with the SGE enabled), you get this answer:

This is such a niche topic, that it is actually easy to see how that's constructued. Google took the content of my Quora post:

And blended it with my blogpost:

It simply took these two pages, blended and rephrased the content a bit.

If you look very closely, these two sources are actually "attributed":

But will anyone click on that? 🤷‍♂️

Evolution of Zero-Click Search

We know that Google doesn't want to send users to third-party websites (unless you pay them via Google Ads).

That's nothing new - I have this as a core element of the mindset for content and SEO in my content optimization guide since day one.

If you want to look at it from a cynical perspective, you could say that SEO's have been gradually undermining their own necessity for quite some time: While making content easier to crawl, index, and understand we are making it easier for search engines to get to the point when they don't need us at all.

Weather sites could speak about that at length. Also, sites doing unit conversions or calculators, or showing sports scores. These are all features that Google implemented a long time ago.

Even back in 2020, so-called zero-click searches accounted for ~65% of searches:

Featured Snippets on Steroids

In 2014, Google first introduced Featured Snippets. There were initial concerns that these snippets could lead publishers to lose traffic. However, it quickly became apparent that this was not the case. In fact, Featured Snippets could be leveraged to increase traffic for some publishers.

Over the years, Featured Snippets have evolved significantly. For example, in my newsletter last August, I reported on Google's implementation of the Multitask Unified Model (MUM) in Featured Snippets, including its newfound ability to understand consensus.

At that point, Featured Snippets were gradually improving, albeit at a very conservative pace.

Then came the introduction of ChatGPT and Bing Chat 🧨

This must have surprised Google, as during this wave of excitement, users didn't seem overly concerned with the accuracy of the results. At least initially, people were content using ChatGPT, which provided somewhat plausible, but not necessarily accurate, responses.

It seems that what mattered more was the direct delivery of answers without any additional friction, as we are, after all, lazy as a sloth.

Google must act to ensure they don't lag behind the competition, but naturally, they need to be much more cautious. Compared to Bing, they have much more at stake.

Their answer is the Search Generative Experience (SGE), which could be thought of as Featured Snippets on steroids.

SGE aims to:

1. Provide higher quality answers, reducing the need to visit any other sites,
2. Present longer and richer content, further decreasing the necessity to visit other sites,
3. Include links or buttons for follow-up questions, minimizing the need to seek additional sources.

What does it mean for SEO?

We're not seeing anything new. However, the long-term trends that been gradually manifesting over the last decade could quickly get to WARP SPEED 🚀

It's hard to predict anything 🔮, but based on the infromation I have available today. I can say:

• The big will become bigger. Google has shown a long-term preference for reliable answers from established sources over slightly more precise answers from smaller sites. If attributions are given, they are likely to favor a few established sites.
• Even more blackboxed. We'll likely have very limited information available for optimization. Do you even remember when we could see EVERY SINGLE KEYWORD?
• Will users find some websites obsolete? Probably yes. If your traffic relies on keywords that Google can easily answer using SGE, there may be little reason for users to visit your site.
• More focus on users and strong brand. Again, nothing new. Creating content with the user and search intent in mind will become even more critical. Keywords not so much.
• Long-tail keywords may see a comeback. The introduction of autocomplete resulted in less variation in user queries, which generally became shorter. With conversational AI, the trend seems to be shifting towards users asking longer, more specific questions, expecting answers specifically tailored to their situations
• Article images will be more important. When you look at how Google currently attributes sources, it shows an article image with a short headline, without any description. Even though this can easily change, article images seem to be even more important here.

SEO is constantly evolving. For instance, technical SEO was critical in the early days when websites were generally in poor shape. Nowadays, it's practically unnecessary for regular websites with a modern CMS. As the focus has shifted towards user intent, I find myself conducting extensive keyword research less frequently.

SEO is more about making sites great for its users - a task that's simple in theory, but can be challenging in practice. So SEO can continue to bring significant value to a project for years to come.

Who's at risk?

If your site provides shallow content that Google can easily replicate in the form of quick answers, then there's cause for concern.

Similarly, if your site attracts a lot of traffic from keywords associated with evergreen content where there's a broad consensus about the correct answer, it would also be a situation to keep an eye on.

The same applies to Featured Snippets. In recent years, established sites have significantly boosted their traffic through the optimization of Featured Snippets, providing content that perfectly fits into the snippet. As SGE is essentially Featured Snippets on steroids, and Google no longer requires that exact form, we can expect significant shifts in traffic in this area. Even if attribution is given and users do click through, these sources are likely to be selected based on different criteria.

Is Google using your content to train their AI?

Yes, they probably are. The Washington Post analyzed Google’s C4 dataset that includes data from ~15 million websites. This model is used to train many of the LLM models (but for models like ChatGPT, we don't know exactly what they use).

Most of my clients' sites are included in the model, contributing to the training of the algorithm.

Usually without any attribution given.

Even my blog is there:

Here you can check if your site is included.

Vincent, we happy?

Is this good news or bad news?

In SEO, you quickly learn to embrace change. The rule of thumb is to never fight the algorithm; instead, we should seek to benefit from it and its ecosystem.

It's going to be exciting to see how SEO and organic search develop in the coming months and years. The potential to experiment with new tactics and focus even more on the user experience is intriguing.

Of course, the novelty will eventually fade, and the situation will stabilize. Concerns about plagiarism will likely arise, especially in the EU with its laws and the European Copyright Directive (this is probably why the current experiment is limited only to the U.S. 😁)

Exciting times lie ahead!

In my previous article, I covered the SEO tools that assist me most in my professional life as an SEO specialist. Today, I'd like to share tips on apps and services that enhance my productivity as an international freelancer.

I won't cover every tool I use, but rather the cream of the crop - the apps and services that I believe aid me most significantly.

1) Sunsama for Daily Planning
2) Spark for Email
3) YNAB for Financial Planning and Budgeting
4) Readwise Reader for Reading
5) Hosted Platforms for Peace of Mind
6) Citfin and Wise for Superior Exchange Rates
7) Bonus: 'The Browser' Newsletter for Staying Sharp

1) Sunsama for Daily Planning

As a freelancer working on multiple projects, I'm often obliged to use whichever project management solution my clients prefer - be it Asana, Notion, or Clickup. Besides these, there are tasks stemming from Slack messages and emails that mustn't slip through the cracks.

To stay on top of things, I must organize all tasks in one place and in a way that suits my workflow.

Sunsama is a daily planner that aids me in planning the week ahead. It boasts a minimalistic yet highly polished interface that is surprisingly powerful.

Its features are well thought out, and everything included serves to guide users in accomplishing the most important tasks without feeling overwhelmed.

The features I value the most are:

• Realistic daily and weekly planning with specific goals in mind
• Time boxing and integration with my calendar
• Integrated meeting notes
• Fundamental time tracking
• Integration with Asana, Notion, email, etc.

Pricing and free trial here

2) Spark for Email

Email is a flawed system. It's staggering how virtually any company that secures your email address views it as an opportunity to inundate you with spam ad infinitum.

This is precisely why apps like Spark or Hey are so advantageous. They safeguard your inbox against unwanted senders.

I've been using Spark for some time now and can't recommend it highly enough.

Features I value the most include:

• Email Screening - You primarily see emails only from senders you've already approved. Any newcomers need to be 'let in' first. This allows you to concentrate on known senders initially, while also giving you the capability to block individuals and domains with a single click. Without this feature, my inbox would be unmanageable.
• Home Screen - Spark features a clean home screen displaying only the most critical information, such as messages from important senders and nothing else. This is especially useful when checking email throughout the day, ensuring you don't miss any significant messages without being distracted by irrelevant or old emails.
• Email Sharing - With Spark, you can generate a shareable link that you can send to anyone, enabling them to view the entire thread in their browser. This is a significant improvement over traditional forwarding. It's surprising that more email solutions don't offer this feature.

There are also numerous minor features that boost productivity. In a sense, Spark is similar to Hey. However, a crucial difference is that Hey is much more opinionated, and switching over completely is a tedious process, especially when it comes to migrating older messages (they even advise starting from scratch).

Spark seamlessly integrates with Gmail or any other provider, making it easy to switch back if necessary.

Pricing and free trial here

Email - that ingenious twentieth-century invention whereby any random person on the planet can pester you, at any time they like, and at almost no cost to themselves, by means of a digital window that sits inches from your nose, or in your pocket, throughout your working day, and often on weekends, too.

(quote from Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals)

3) YNAB for Financial Planning and Budgeting

Over the years, I've experimented with numerous methods for managing freelance finances and planning. These were typically various types of spreadsheets requiring a considerable amount of dedication and regular maintenance.

A prime example is Robert Vlach’s financial plan template (template, video), which is well-thought-out, but I've found maintaining spreadsheets in the long run to be a burden due to the need for regular updates.

There are also apps centered around tracking your spending (for example, I used Toshl in the past), but these primarily focus on past spending, which is too late for proactive budgeting.

What genuinely works well for me is zero-based budgeting. This method involves assigning each dollar a specific job (paying for a tool I need, accounting, preparing for taxes, saving and investing, etc.).

This approach helps with prioritization. For instance, if my plan is to prioritize investing, I can't splurge on the latest flashy hardware.

It keeps me highly motivated too – seeing all the empty budget categories pushes me to work harder (in contrast, a spreadsheet forecasting future income often makes me feel complacent).

The best solution for zero-based budgeting is YNAB. Its main focus is helping people eliminate debt and break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle (and it excels at this). But that doesn't mean you can't use it for your freelance budgeting.

In YNAB, you can maintain multiple separate budgets – one for your freelance business, another for your personal or family expenses. You can even set up budgets for your kids to teach them about responsible spending.

When I first signed up for YNAB, the yearly subscription paid for itself within minutes, thanks to all the subscriptions I promptly canceled 😀. I'm glad we only spend on things that provide us value and joy, leaving no room for financial leaks.

YNAB helps you critically examine your freelance and personal expenses and make necessary cuts.

Pricing and free trial here

4) Readwise Reader for Reading

Most of us are knowledge workers, and the constant learning, organization, and recall of information are key.

I use Readwise Reader to read articles from sources I value the most. It serves as my primary source of information and aids in preparing my newsletter.

Readwise Reader offers a well-conceived workflow, enabling skimming through new articles in the Daily Digest, saving articles to the 'Read Later' list, and adding the articles you really want to read to the Shortlist.

It allows you to store various types of content, such as articles, PDFs, videos, etc. The app enables you to highlight important sections, add tags, and make notes. It even incorporates GPT for article summaries.

The biggest advantage of Readwise Reader is its keyboard-centric design, making the processing of hundreds of articles a breeze.

Readwise Reader is closely tied to its parent app, Readwise. This service helps manage your book and article highlights. With Readwise, you can organize all your highlights and regularly resurface them in daily review sessions. This way, your best highlights are never forgotten.

More information here

5) Hosted Platforms for Peace of Mind

With self-hosted platforms like WordPress on a Virtual Private Server (VPS), you often end up dealing with issues. I've learned to rely solely on managed SaaS services, and I recommend the same to others. There simply isn't time for constant maintenance.

Here are some tools I can recommend:

• Ghost (Pro) for blogging and newsletters. I've used Ghost for my freelance blog for a few years now. If you're seeking an easy-to-use solution that's tailored for creators and offers excellent SEO right out of the box, Ghost is the go-to choice.
  Ghost has an integrated newsletter feature — you can decide whether to publish each post to the site, send it via email to your subscribers, or do both. Starting at just 9 USD per month, Ghost is incredibly affordable.
• Solidpixels is an excellent choice if you want a visual website builder that lets you create an attractive website quickly without requiring technical expertise. We are currently using it to build a bilingual site about Fuerteventura, and it's proving to be perfect for this purpose.
  
  It's similar to Webflow but much easier to learn. Plans start at 16 EUR a month, and by subscribing, you're supporting a Czech company.
• Webnode is ideal if you want a small website for your freelance business on your own domain. Webnode offers exactly that. Plans start at around 4 USD per month.

6) Citfin and Wise for Superior Exchange Rates

My primary currency isn't the US Dollar (USD) or the Euro (EUR), but the Czech Koruna (CZK). Being mindful of conversion rates can result in substantial savings, and it's beneficial to utilize the right services.

Here's what I use:

• Citfin: This service is excellent for receiving local and SEPA payments and converting them to CZK with the best exchange rate.
• Wise: I use Wise for receiving payments from outside the EU.
• Revolut: This is my preferred choice for card payments in the EU, mostly when I'm on holiday.
• Trezor: I also use Bitcoin with a Trezor hardware wallet and the Lightning Network. When making international payments, it becomes apparent how effective Bitcoin is for such transactions.

7) Bonus: 'The Browser' Newsletter for Staying Sharp

As freelancers, we often find ourselves isolated in our small worlds, sticking to our routines. I believe it's crucial to actively seek new stimuli that foster creativity and promote learning outside our usual field or bubble.

To minimize mindless social media scrolling, I read 'The Browser' instead.

'The Browser' is a daily newsletter that recommends five articles every day. Their selection is impressive; there are always more intriguing articles than I have time to read.

I particularly enjoy their Sunday issue, which includes a quiz, a problem to solve, the performance of the week, book recommendations, and the image of the week ❤️

Sign up for 'The Browser' here

That concludes my list of the most essential apps and services I find beneficial for my freelance work.

I want to keep this article updated with new recommendations as things evolve. Please sign up for my newsletter if you'd like to stay informed.

Welcome to the latest edition of my newsletter!

As you already know, there's been a lot of buzz lately about the sunset of Google Analytics Universal.

Everybody seems to be anxiously awaiting the transition to Google Analytics 4.

When the news was first announced (14 months ago?), I predicted that the deadline would be postponed and the transition would be much slower. Recent aggressive pop-ups with countdowns from Google suggest that they might be serious about the deadline this time 🤷‍♂️😁

We'll see, we'll see 😉 In the meantime, you can enjoy this hilarious parody video.

In any case, if you don't feel comfortable using GA4 and are considering some alternatives, I recommend checking out Matomo.

Matomo's interface takes a more traditional approach, making it very easy to get used to quickly.

The cloud version of Matomo is reasonably priced and contains all the necessary features.

The self-hosted version is completely free and still very powerful. Installation is easy, and if you've ever installed Wordpress, you'll be fine. You can expand the self-hosted version with additional paid features if needed.

Google, AI and New Search

Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, has announced that conversational artificial intelligence will be integrated into the company's search engine to compete with AI chatbots such as ChatGPT.

Google has been cautious in adopting AI technology due to concerns about its accuracy but plans to continue refining its standalone Bard chatbot.

WSJ News Exclusive | Google CEO Sundar Pichai Says Search to Include Chat AI

The company plans to add conversational artificial-intelligence features to its flagship search engine, CEO Sundar Pichai said.

The Wall Street JournalMiles Kruppa

As Bing recently forced Google to innovate faster, reports began to emerge that Google is working on an entirely new search engine using its new AI technology to offer a personalized experience to users and predict their needs.

The new search engine would "learn what users want to know based on what they’re searching". This is in very early stages with no timeline for release for is just marketing talk for now.

And there also something called "Project Magi" as well:

While Google is working on an all-new search engine, a team of more than 160 Googlers are working full-time on adding new features to the existing Google Search. This project is being code-named Magi, according to these reports and may be released as early as next month to a subset of users.

Magi would allow searchers to complete transactions, such as buying shoes or booking flights, according to the report. This would allow searchers to complete financial transactions, all while still incorporating the existing – and lucrative – Google search ads. (source)

Shipping and Returns Information in Structured Data

You can enhance your product's structured data by adding shipping and returns information, which can then be displayed in product research results.

Here is the updated documentation:

How To Add Product Structured Data | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google Developers

Discover how you can add product structured data to attract potential buyers while they are searching for items to purchase on Google.

Google Developers

If you have already included this information in Google Merchant, you do not need to update your structured data - Google will retrieve the information from there.

Also, Search Console is now simplifying the process of identifying when your products lack this information.

If your products are missing shipping and return details, or if the shipping and return information was added incorrectly, you will receive warnings in the Merchant Listings report and through email notifications.

Shipping and Returns information on Google Search web results | Google Search Central Blog | Google Developers

Google DevelopersMoshe Samet

GoogleOther: Google's New Crawler

Google has introduced a new web crawler, called GoogleOther, which will help to optimize and streamline its crawling operations.

This generic web crawler will be used by various product teams within Google to fetch publicly accessible content from websites, and is intended to take over the non-essential tasks currently performed by Googlebot. By doing so, Googlebot can focus solely on building the search index utilized by Google Search.

The introduction of GoogleOther should not significantly impact websites, as it operates using the same infrastructure and limitations as Googlebot.

Google Introduces New Crawler To Optimize Googlebot’s Performance

Google introduces GoogleOther, a new web crawler, to optimize operations, streamline R&D tasks, and reduce strain on Googlebot.

Search Engine JournalMatt G. Southern

Google will remove reports from GSC

In the upcoming months, Google Search Console will no longer feature the page experience report, mobile usability report and mobile-friendly testing tool.

Although Google Search Console will continue with the HTTPs report and core web vitals, the mobile usability report and mobile-friendly testing tool will also be removed in December 2023.

Google stated that this change is not a reflection of the importance of mobile usability, but rather a matter of resource allocation.

Instead of these reports, Google will provide general guidance about page experience.

Google Search Console To Drop Page Experience Report, Mobile Usability Report & Mobile-Friendly Tests

In the coming months, Google will deprecate the page experience report within Google Search Console, the mobile usability report, and the mobile-friendly testing tool. The core web vitals and HTTPs r

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

For this month's issue I wrote a new article with my recommendations for the best SEO tools - many of them I use every day. I hope this helps you find your way through the many apps out there.

I haven't included everything, just the top picks that I think are the most valuable.

My Personal Top Picks: SEO Tools

I get asked a lot about which tool to use for keyword research, technical SEO, or monitoring. I totally get it, with so many tools and apps out there, it can be overwhelming. That’s why I’m sharing an overview of the apps I use regularly for my SEO work that

Jan OnesorkJan Onesork

Just recently, I updated my content optimization guide. It now links to a new snippet preview tool. This is currently a better choice.

How to Optimize Content for SEO

This guide will give you a great starting point for optimizing your articles or product pages for SEO.

Jan OnesorkJan Onesork

AI and Attribution

This month, I don't want to delve too deeply into AI topics. There have been many intriguing developments (such as Google Bard or ChatGPT Plugins), but you probably already know about them from other sources as well.

What is fascinating, however, is how Google Bard handles attribution. There's almost none. If you compare results from Bing and Bard, you'll notice a stark difference - Bard rarely links to any resources.

According to recent claims, "Bard is intended to generate original content and not replicate existing content at length."

It will be interesting to see how this evolves. I'm not the only one who currently prefers Bing Chat.

It's evident that Google is lagging in this area, and Bing Chat's positive reception will likely push Google to improve the quality of direct answers.

With Bing linking to references almost everywhere (including "what time is it" queries), Google is apt to be less generous in this regard.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a drop in traffic from some Featured Snippets where Google decides that their generated content is original enough that there's no need to link anywhere. The question is whether users will want that too.

Google explains why Bard rarely lists citations and links to content creators

Google said it will link to citations when Bard directly quote at length from a webpage.

Search Engine LandBarry Schwartz

AI and Paywalls

The rise of LLM in search also brings up new questions about paywalled content.

There are legitimate ways to feed your paywalled content to search engines to retain some SEO benefits while still keeping your content somewhat protected.

However, this also means that such content might start appearing in these generated answers. It might be a good thing if proper attribution is given, but less so if there is no attribution at all.

Bing Chat Access Content Behind Paywalls?

There is some concern and speculation on the internet that Microsoft Bing is feeding in content behind paywall and using such content to provide answers in Bing Chat. I asked Bing Chat if it can give

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

Diverse Perspectives in Search

Google has announced a new feature called Perspectives, which will appear below Top Stories in Search. The feature aims to showcase insights from a diverse range of journalists, experts, and relevant voices on the topic being searched.

Five new ways to verify info with Google Search

Everyone should be empowered with the tools they need to find information they can trust.

GoogleItamar Snir

If you enjoy experimenting with similar features, I highly recommend checking out Multi-perspective AI in Neeva. It allows you to view news coverage from sources across the political spectrum. (You need to be in the U.S. or use a VPN to access it.)

NeevaAI + Bias Buster: Get Multiple Perspectives Summarized in Seconds

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our latest upgrade to NeevaAI: multi-perspective AI that works hand-in-hand with Bias Buster!

NeevaThe Neeva Team

Local Search Ranking Factors for 2023

Whitespark published their new analysis of ranking factors for local search. If local SEO is part of your strategy, give it a closer look. There are some nice trends to learn from - such as the descrease of importance of link signals in favor of on-page factors.

They were also able to spot some more subtle new trends:

Noteworthy new factors
Sustained Influx of Reviews Over Time (rather than bursts)

I can’t believe I didn’t have this as a factor in previous editions of the survey. It makes a lot of sense. The thinking here is that you don’t want to get a burst of 100+ reviews (eg: from an email blast) and then call it a day. A business that is continually getting reviews on a regular basis sends the right signals to Google that it is an alive and active business that the public still cares about.

Your takeaway is that you should never stop asking for reviews. Review acquisition needs to be an integrated and ongoing part of your marketing strategy.

2023 Local Search Ranking Factors Report from Whitespark – Increase local SEO rankings

Whitespark’s 2023 Local Search Ranking Factors survey results! Learn from the top experts in local search about what’s working to drive rankings and conversions in local SEO, and what’s not.

Whitespark

New Tool: Analyze URL Security and Technology

The Cloudflare Radar URL Scanner is a free tool that provides a report of technical details about a given URL.

This report includes phishing scans, SSL certificate data, HTTP request and response data, page performance data, DNS records, cookies, and more.

In addition to providing security information, the report displays the technologies and libraries used, hyperlinks, and performance data. The tool is powered by Cloudflare's Workers Browser Rendering API and is publicly accessible.

I get asked a lot about which tool to use for keyword research, technical SEO, or monitoring.

I totally get it, with so many tools and apps out there, it can be overwhelming.

That's why I'm sharing an overview of the apps I use regularly for my SEO work that bring the most value.

I'm also committed to keeping this list updated.

1) Sitebulb for indepth auditing
2) Octopus.io for website structure
3) ContentKing for SEO monitoring
4) Ahrefs for keywords and spying on competitors
5) KeywordInsights.io for search intent
6) ChatGPT as a universal side-kick
7) Log File Analyzer for crawl budget
8) Marketing Miner for keyword research data
9) SpeedCurve for performance monitoring
10) Redirectinator for redirect checks

1) Sitebulb for indepth auditing

You can't do any serious SEO work without a robust tool that allows you to crawl your site and analyze your technical and content SEO in-depth.

My favorite tool for this is Sitebulb because it works reliably, has a broad range of functionality, and is constantly improving with regular updates.

Sitebulb is also my number one recommendation for occasional users because it provides easy-to-understand recommendations and action steps. Plus, you can pay for Sitebulb for just a month when you need it for a technical site check.

2) Octopus.io for website structure

In SEO, we often suggest changes and improvements to the website structure, and Octopus.do is the best tool to visually communicate those ideas.

It's simple, easy to understand, and has a clean and straightforward interface that makes it easy for everyone to comprehend.

Octopus.do's "low fidelity wireframes" are tiny visual elements that can be added to each page, making it easy to show what the end result could look like.

This feature is especially helpful in the early stages when getting client buy-in or outlining the layout of all pages.

The app is cloud-based, so collaboration is a breeze, with no need for software installation, licenses, or account creation.

My Favorite Website Structure Designing Tool

I want to share more details about the tools that I use in my day-to-day work. Today, I’d like to show you which app I use for website structures and why.

Jan OnesorkJan Onesork

3) ContentKing for SEO monitoring

If you want to pay for just one SEO tool and replace the rest with free options, I highly recommend ContentKing.

A significant part of SEO is problem and error prevention. Growth tends to be gradual, but falls can be sudden and unexpected.

That's why SEO monitoring tools are so crucial.

ContentKing has your back on serious issues that inadvertently make it to the live site, such as unintended noindex or broken redirects. It also helps prevent death by a thousand cuts when multiple inexperienced editors make changes to the site.

The alert system makes ContentKing an indispensable tool for ongoing SEO work. Plus, it takes care of basic technical SEO checks.

4) Ahrefs for keywords and spying on competitors

Out of all these tools, Ahrefs is probably the most commonly used by agencies and in-house teams. It's no surprise since it presents itself as an easy-to-use all-in-one tool.

What I mainly use from Ahrefs are its strong features:

• keyword suggestion
• content gap analysis
• competitor link analysis
• link intersect report
• broken backlinks
• access to historical data (both tracked and non-tracked keywords), SERP history

Other functionalities are rather weak, so it's better to use specialized tools for those. However, Ahrefs is quite expensive, so it's worth considering whether it's worth the investment.

5) KeywordInsights.io for search intent

Keyword Insights is a promising tool developed by Andy and Suganthan.

This tool is rapidly evolving, and I highly recommend monitoring its progress. One of its most notable features is the ability to identify search intent for a large number of keywords at once.

Their new tool, designed to assist with content brief creation, is also exceptional, and I encourage you to give it a try.

Keyword Insights offers additional features as well, primarily keyword clustering. Unfortunately, it does not align with my workflow; however, it may prove to be a valuable addition to yours.

6) ChatGPT as a universal side-kick

This tool has emerged rapidly. I can't remember the last time I've seen a technology go from "not used at all" to "used every day, almost all the time" so quickly.

I first reported on similar technologies in a newsletter in 2020 when Mike King was experimenting with GPT-2. It had significant limitations and wasn't very accessible. However, that has changed in recent months and weeks with GPT-3 and GPT-4.

Now, using GPT is one of the things I recommend learning in 2023. Am I crazy doing that when even a pivot table is a nightmare for most people, let alone understanding how LLM works?

Currently, I use:

• ChatGPT Plus to access GPT-4
• GPT for Sheets and Docs, an extension that seamlessly integrates GPT functionality into Google Sheets and Google Docs
• Python to create custom scripts to process larger data via API and GPT 3.5

Don't be left behind; experiment too. It's loads of fun!

7) Log File Analyzer for crawl budget

Occasionally, I need to analyze access logs of a large website. While many aspects can be analyzed using simple terminal scripts, utilizing specialized tools can be advantageous.

Out of the tools I have tried, the Screaming Frog SEO Log File Analyser is the most suitable for my needs. It is easy to use and performs precisely as expected.

However, only some projects genuinely benefit from access log analysis, which is why I use the SEO Log File Analyser sparingly.

8) Marketing Miner for keyword research data

Marketing Miner is a workhorse that helps you with keyword research data. Do you need to measure rankings or find out what landing pages are showing up in the SERPs?

Marketing Miner will deliver that data to you - quickly, reliably and at a reasonable price. This makes it hard to substitute in my keyword research workflow.

9) SpeedCurve for performance monitoring

For keepin' an eye on performance, I use SpeedCurve. It's a budget-friendly tool that does regular page loading speed tests and keeps track of important metrics.

This way, you can watch page loading speed over time and see if any changes you made messed with performance.

It's super handy to monitor key page types in SpeedCurve and spot changes in performance before and after you make any tweaks.

10) Redirectinator for redirect checks

During a typical redesign, there are often changes in URLs that need to be handled properly using redirects and checked for errors.

There are many ways to approach this, ranging from using robust technical SEO tools to writing a script that uses curl.

My personal favorite is Redirectinator by Jeff Louella.

• It's free, easy to use, and easy to share with developers because it's a Google Sheet.
• It can handle quite a few URLs (but for larger numbers, it's still better to use a curl script),
• and it can check redirects on staging and behind password protection.

If you ask me for a recommendation for a redirect checker tool, Redirectinator is my first choice.

I know you've been waiting for the latest news from the world of SEO. Just give me a second...

Is that good enough? 😁

I hope not because there's a lot more interesting stuff. Such as new features for audience analysis or a trick to increase your ranking in local SEO.

⤵⤵⤵

The New Bing

In early February, Microsoft announced the "new Bing", which includes a chat mode that provides a conversational experience similar to ChatGPT. The biggest difference from ChatGTP is that Bing Chat uses a technology they call Prometheus to combine data from Bing's fresh index with OpenAI's GTP model.

Bing wasn't done with this news in February. During the month, they announced algorithm improvements and added the ability to set "Response tones". Those of you who have experimented with GPT-3 will be familiar with the temperature setting option, which is basically the same thing.

Along with that, we're seeing voice search signals and an expansion of results from Bing Chat to Answer boxes (which are Featured Snippets on steroids):

And, of course, you can also see ads in Bing Chat.

Reinventing search with a new AI-powered Microsoft Bing and Edge, your copilot for the web - The Official Microsoft Blog

To empower people to unlock the joy of discovery, feel the wonder of creation and better harness the world’s knowledge, today we’re improving how the world benefits from the web by reinventing the tools billions of people use every day, the search engine and the browser. Today, we’re launching an al…

The Official Microsoft BlogMicrosoft Corporate Blogs

Google's response was hurried at best. Their Bard presentation was poor, including incorrect answers in the demo materials.

We haven't had a chance to test Google Bard yet, but it's clear that Google has a lot to lose in this game, unlike Microsoft, which can use this as an opportunity to grow.

What does it mean to us?

As I mention in my Content Optimization Guide, the long-term trend is that search engines are less and less willing to send users to publishers' sites and want to keep them on their own sites.

Innovations like Bing Chat and Google Bard are right in that spirit. For us, this means even less diversity in search results and sources. No matter how search engines give credit to sources (if at all), fewer established sites will get the majority of attention depending on what data the model is trained on.

The winner takes all.

At the same time, Microsoft has made access to Bing's Search API 10 times more expensive. Some speculate that this is due to higher costs due to the introduction of the new technology. I guess that it may be more of an effort to make it more difficult for other smaller search engines to operate - many of them using Bing's search results.

NeevaAI is expanding

One alternative search engine that utilizes Bing's data is Neeva - an ad-free and tracker-free search engine.

It features recently released NeevaAI - quick answers in SERPs generated from top sources using generative AI in a similar fashion as Bing Chat (they had it sooner though).

Last month, this feature became available to users in Europe and Canada.

Even though the quality of search results is a bit lacking compared to major search engines, it's very refreshing to see a search engine without ads that's backed by paying subscribers. By using these alternative search engines, you support search diversity.

Neeva - Ad-free, private search

Did you know 40% of search results are ads? Created by ex-Google execs, Neeva only shows you real results. No ads or affiliate links ever.

Neeva

New in Google Search Console

Exciting new feature - Bulk data export - a new feature of Search Console which allows users to export data to Google BigQuery on an ongoing basis.

It includes all performance data, except for anonymized queries, and is not affected by the daily data row limit. It is beneficial for large websites with large amounts of traffic.

Bulk data export: a new and powerful way to access your Search Console data | Google Search Central Blog | Google Developers

In this post, we discuss bulk data export, a new Search Console feature that allows you to export data to Google BigQuery on an ongoing basis. You can configure an export in Search Console to get a daily data dump into your BigQuery project.

Google DevelopersDaniel Waisberg

Google also recently improved user management in GSC. The new features include: distinguishing between verified and delegated owners, easier removal of verified owners, or the ability to view user verification tokens.

Google Search Console Updates Users & Permissions Controls

Google Search Console pushed out a security control update that reworked how the user and permissions management works. This is to bring over the old Webmaster Tools version to the new Search Console

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

Small Updates in Google's SERP

Google has launched the blue highlights in featured snippets within the Google search results, which are visible in many snippets:

Google Search has apparently expanded its feature of People Cards, which was initially only available in India, to the United States. People Cards provide a quick and easy way to find information about a person on Google.

Google Search People Cards Now Visible In US

Back in 2020, Google Search introduced a feature named people cards. It was only available in India but now it seems like it might be expanding, as I can now see it in the United States.Brian Freiesle

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

Google also recently implemented a carousel at the top of search results for hotel queries. This carousel was previously located inside the hotel pack but now appears at the top of the page:

SparkToro: Custom Search & Custom Audiences

SparkToro's new Custom Search and Custom Audiences feature allows users to find even more specific audiences, such as Data Scientists who talk about R or those who post about Organic Chemistry and follow New Scientist.

Additionally, Custom Audiences now allows users to analyze their email lists by providing SparkToro with the list. SparkToro is also working on a new infrastructure to be rolled out in the next 6-9 months, with the goal of ingesting and displaying more kinds of data from more sources.

NEW: Custom Search & Custom Audiences Offer Incredible New Ways to Use SparkToro - SparkToro

Three years ago, if you wanted to uncover which podcasts Data Scientists listened to, or find out which social accounts were most followed by people who

SparkToroRand Fishkin

Local SEO: Services in GMB impact rankings

Joy Hawkins and her team have conducted a study that has revealed that services listed on Google Business Profiles now impact local rankings much more than in 2019. Adding services to a Google Business Profile, even custom ones, can lead to improved rankings.

Do Services in Google Business Profiles Impact Ranking? - Sterling Sky Inc

Wondering if the services menu in Google My Business impacts ranking? Does adding services to a Google My Business listing increase ranking for keywords related to the service? See what we found when testing this on a couple different business listings.

Sterling Sky IncJoy Hawkins

This issue is packed with important information that you won't want to miss:

🤖 Latest advancements in AI and how ChatGPT-like services are being integrated into full-text search.

🚨 Leaked Yandex code.

🆕 Major update from Yoast SEO.

🫥 Sunset of Google Optimize.

And more!

I hope you find this information useful and informative. Wishing you a successful rest of the month ahead!

AI, AI, and AI again

AI as a topic has occupied a larger and larger part of this newsletter in recent months. This month we have a lot of news again.

Microsoft is reportedly investing $10 billion in OpenAI, a software development company specializing in creating software that can learn and adapt to various tasks. The investment is said to value OpenAI at $29 billion.

OpenAI has launched ChatGPT Plus, a premium version of its popular ChatGPT chatbot. It provides faster response times, priority access to new features and improvements, and access to ChatGPT during peak times for $20 per month in the United States. Free access to ChatGPT will remain available, with OpenAI taking what it’s learned during the research preview to continue improving the chatbot.

Major search engines swiftly react to the popularity of ChatGPT.

Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has confirmed that the company will soon be releasing a chat-based search feature using its artificial intelligence (AI), LaMDA. This new service, named Apprentice Bard, will allow users to interact directly with the AI, giving feedback and improving it over time. Additionally, Pichai discussed how this chat-based search feature would help Google provide more up-to-date and factual information.

Google is asking employees to test potential ChatGPT competitors, including a chatbot called ‘Apprentice Bard’

Google is testing chatbots similar to ChatGPT that use its LaMDA technology, as well as new search page designs that integrate the technology.

CNBCJennifer Elias

Microsoft Bing is planning to integrate OpenAI's ChatGTP chatbot by the end of March. This will allow Bing to answer search queries with complete sentences rather than a list of links. Microsoft hopes this new feature will give it a competitive edge over Google and will be a return on its $1 billion investment in OpenAI in 2019.

Just a couple of days ago, the first rumors started appearing:

Unlike ChatGPT, which is trained on data collected up to 2021, the new Bing will be able to access current information.

When you ask a question, the AI will interpret it and make several searches related to your request. It will then compile the results and write a summary for you. Bing will highlight particular phrases and cite where it got that information from, allowing you to verify the claim. (source)

OpenAI also released a tool, that lets you detect AI-written content. It's far from accurate, though.

Local SEO: Apple Business Connect

Apple has launched a new tool, Apple Business Connect, which allows businesses of all sizes to customize the information that appears to more than a billion Apple users on Apple Maps, Messages, Wallet, Siri, and other apps.

Businesses can manage their logo, cover photo, attributes, business description, and more.

Business Connect

Apple Business Connect

Embedded podcasts removed from SERPs

It used to be possible to listen to podcasts directly from Google's search results. That's no longer the case, as Google has removed this feature.

According to Google, this removal aims to improve user experience, but more likely, it shows a more significant push towards podcast listening on YouTube.

Google Removes Embedded Podcasts From Search Results

Google has removed the ability to listen to podcasts directly from search results, which may indicate a shift to promote podcasts on YouTube.

Search Engine JournalMatt G. Southern

Google's Helpful Content and Links Spam Updates

Google has announced that the December 2022 helpful content update and December 2022 link spam update have finished rolling out, taking 38 and 29 days, respectively.

Although Google intended the rollout to take two weeks, the completion date was delayed due to the holidays.

The helpful content update targets content created to rank well in search and is site-wide, impacting all languages.

The link spam update neutralizes links identified as spam and uses Google's AI-based SpamBrain for detection. Both updates have now been completed as of January 12th, 2023.

Google’s Helpful Content & Link Spam Updates Done Rolling Out On January 12th

After a long slow, and paused rollout, Google has said that both the December 2022 helpful content update and December 2022 link spam update are now both done rolling out. Google said both completed r

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

New Personalized Search and Product Recommendations AI

Google Cloud has launched four new and updated AI tools to provide customers with a smoother online shopping experience and assist retailers with in-store inventory management.

These tools include:

• a personalized search and browsing experience for e-commerce sites,
• an AI-driven product recommendation system,
• a tool that uses machine learning to arrange products on websites, and
• an AI-powered solution for checking in-store shelves.

The personalized search tool can identify customers' preferences and adjust the search results to provide a more personalized experience.

The AI-driven product recommendation system offers page-level optimization and revenue optimization to increase engagement and sales.

Google Cloud Launches New AI Tools for Retailers

Google is bringing personalized search to ecommerce sites in its latest updates to Google Cloud.

Search Engine JournalMatt G. Southern

Leaked Yandex code

Alex Buraks leaked the source code for Yandex, Russia's largest search engine. He found that the age of links, the number of search queries, the number of keywords in a URL, the quality rank of texts, and random factors can all impact rankings.

It is indeed an exciting peek into how full-text search engines work.

If you are interested in getting a closer look, Mike King wrote an extensive analysis.

It goes on to discuss the 17,854 ranking factors found within the codebase, which include clicks, Metrika (Yandex's Google Analytics equivalent), and more. It also highlights other features, such as link factors and anti-SEO upper bounds, and explains how this knowledge can be applied to Google.

Yandex scrapes Google and other SEO learnings from the source code leak

Yandex isn’t Google, but there is a lot SEOs can learn about how a modern search engine is built from reviewing this codebase.

Search Engine LandMichael King

Yoast SEO 20.0 update

Yoast SEO 20.0 has released major changes to the user interface, introducing a card-style interface to make it easier to optimize a WordPress site.

Each card representing a setting has an image, an explanation, and an on/off toggle with a "Learn More" link. The new user interface allows users to quickly understand the settings by whether the card has color or not.

Additionally, there is an "API Integrations" page for users to integrate Yoast into the Elementor workflow.

Yoast SEO 20.0 Update Makes Big Changes

Yoast SEO 20.0 WordPress plugin introduces bold changes to the user interface that completely rethinks how users interact with it

Search Engine JournalRoger Montti

Nofollow site credit links if you can

This is not new, but a worthwhile reminder:

Google is recommending that if you have control over the credit links in your footer, you should nofollow them. If you don't have control over them, you don't need to worry about it.

Google: Nofollow Site Credit Links Footer Links If You Control Them

Google is still recommending that you nofollow your credit links in your footer, if you have control over those links. So the site designed by or powered by or made by types of links, nofollow those

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

Google Optimize won't be available after Sep 30

According to the recent announcement, Google Optimize and Optimize 360 will no longer be available after September 30, 2023.

Experiments and personalizations can continue running until that date but will end afterward.

Google is investing in A/B testing in Google Analytics 4 as a more effective solution for customers.

Google Optimize Sunset - Optimize Resource Hub

Google Optimize and Optimize 360 will no longer be available after September 30, 2023. Your experiments and personalizations can continue to run until that date. Any experiments and personalizations s

Optimize Resource Hub

Welcome to the first edition of my SEO newsletter for this year. In December, we saw a lot of exciting developments in the world of search engine optimization.

Google reacted to ChatGPT, there were a couple of smaller Google updates and tweaks - such as continuous scrolling on desktop SERPs.

Also, E-A-T became E-E-A-T 🤷‍♂️  More details are below.

Here are some of the most important news and updates that you need to know about:

Google Reacts to ChatGPT

The great popularity of ChatGPT has not gone without a reaction at Google.

Google's management has reportedly issued a "code red" in response to the rising popularity of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, which has sparked fears that it may one day replace Google's search engine.

CEO Sundar Pichai has directed numerous teams within the company to refocus their efforts on developing AI products to address the threat of ChatGPT. Employees have been tasked with building AI products that generate art and graphics.

Google’s management has reportedly issued a ‘code red’ amid the rising popularity of the ChatGPT AI

CEO Sundar Pichai has reportedly redirected some teams to build out AI products as concerns rise over ChatGPT’s threat to Google.

InsiderAaron Mok

Google Updates

On December 5th, Google released another helpful content update, followed by another update focused on link spam on December 14th.

The Link Spam update uses a special algorithm called SpamBrain AI to help it find websites that are buying links or passing links to other websites.

Google Unleashes December 2022 Link Spam Update With SpamBrain AI

Google began rolling out a revised link spam update on December 14, 2022, named the December 2022 link spam update. This update is new in that it uses SpamBrain AI to

Search Engine RoundtableBarry Schwartz

The rollout of these updates was a bit prolonged due to the holidays.

Smaller Updates and Tweaks

On December 5th, Google released continuous scrolling on desktops in English. With continuous scrolling, users will now be able to view up to six pages of results when they reach the bottom of a search results page.

Google also introduced the Google Search Status Dashboard - a new tool that provides the public with an understanding of the current status of crawling, indexing, and serving systems used by Google Search. It offers features such as an RSS feed and historical data, and provides updates on incidents within an hour and consecutive updates within 12 hours.

Google has announced they are testing a feature to allow users to search text within video content. This feature allows users to type in queries to search for information within videos, and then find the relevant time and text within the video. This feature is being piloted in India and the US, and examples have been shared of it working successfully.

Topics in Google’s Search Results

Google has introduced Topics, a new feature that makes it easier to narrow down search results. The feature is located at the top of the search results page and presents an easy-to-scroll list of related topics.

Search results can be refined by tapping on a topic and adding it to the query, enabling users to quickly zoom in or backtrack on a search with less typing. Topics are dynamic and will change based on the user's input.

Zooming in on an easier way to explore on Search

We’re making it easier to drill down or expand on a search by showing you helpful related topics and filters.

GoogleDanny Sullivan

New Visual Elements Gallery

The Visual Elements Gallery is a new tool from Google designed to help users identify the most common and impactful visual elements of a search results page.

It contains 22 elements, including Attribution, Text Results, Video and Image Results, and Exploration Features.

The Gallery also provides abstract illustrations of how each element may appear on a search result page. In the future, new elements may be added to the Gallery as they become popular on search results pages.

Visual Elements of Google Search | Google Search Central Blog | Google Developers

Google DevelopersPosted by Lizzi and Gary

E-A-T —> E-E-A-T

Google has updated its Quality Rater Guidelines (QRG) for search, introducing a new concept of E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust.

With this reframing, Google states that “trust” is the most important factor and outlines how raters should consider the reputation of websites and content creators.

They also ask raters to consider the experience of the content creator, and what the website and others say about it, to assess trust. This update helps inform what Google is looking for in terms of content quality, user experience, and E-E-A-T of websites.

E-E-A-T and major updates to Google’s quality rater guidelines

The most important change is the introduction of the letter E to the start of the popular acronym E-A-T. Here’s what else has changed.

Search Engine LandLily Ray

Our latest update to the quality rater guidelines: E-A-T gets an extra E for Experience | Google Search Central Blog | Google Developers

Google DevelopersPosted by Elizabeth Tucker

New Version of Sitebulb

Sitebulb published a new version with an automated Google Sheets upload feature, Looker Studio support, and copying project settings. All these updates might seem small, but it's a great step forward for those who want to turn Sitebulb in a SEO powerhouse managing multiple projects.

Sitebulb Latest Updates and Release Notes

Download the latest Sitebulb update, and catch up on all the updates in the funniest Release Notes in the world (of all UK based SEO tools whose name sounds like lightbulb).

Sitebulb

Google and CALM

Google's new technology, CALM (Confident Adaptive Language Modeling) is a breakthrough that allows large language models to speed up processing without compromising performance.

It dynamically allocates resources based on the complexity of the task, allowing the AI to devote more resources to the more difficult parts of the task. This has been tested on various natural language processing tasks, resulting in a 300% speed increase.

The research paper was published on Google's AI blog on December 16, 2022, and is dated October 25, 2022.

Accelerating Text Generation with Confident Adaptive Language Modeling (CALM)

Google ResearchPosted by Tal Schuster, Research Scientist, Google Research

There have been some interesting new developments in SEO in recent months. They may seem small, but they could very well have a significant impact on the way we search.

At Google, they make very few functional changes to its homepage. However, this month, they did - they added a Google Lens visual search button.

In previous months, they've added a multisearch option to Google Lens that lets you expand your query. You take a picture of a red dress, and it searches for similar ones. You want yellow? No problem. Just use multisearch and expand the query.

Or just recently, they added the ability to combine a photo of a meal and have it search for restaurants nearby where you can order it 😲

The results aren't quite perfect yet, but this push for multisearch and other search methods is obvious and will be an impactful change.

How are we going to work with this in SEO? How are we going to evaluate this?

We won't be bored, that's for sure - as we never are in SEO 😅

Anyway, you can find the summary of all the news below.

Oh, and I've also refreshed my Now page, in case you're wondering what I'm currently up to at work and outside of it.

Take care, and have a peaceful Christmas 🎄

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Google published an overview of search ranking systems used for organic search. This is a great starting point for anyone who has a basic knowledge of SEO but struggles with modern terms relevant to modern SEO - such as BERT, MUM, RankBrain, or Page Experience.

It still stands that the best resource for technical SEO is Google's Search Central. If you follow this publicly available advice, you'll be better than 99% of websites.

Google added Google Lens to its homepage. Google Lens lets you search visually using an image. This makes image search and SEO even more prominent.

If image search is important for your site, I'd definitely keep an eye on that and use it as an opportunity to stand out.

This is aligned with Google's efforts to explore multisearch. With multisearch you can combine visual input with keywords resulting in a completely different experience.

With multisearch, you can ask a question about an object in front of you or refine your search by color, brand or a visual attribute. Give it a go yourself by using Lens to:

- Screenshot a stylish orange dress and add the query “green” to find it in another color
- Snap a photo of your dining set and add the query “coffee table” to find a matching table
- Take a picture of your rosemary plant and add the query “care instructions”

Just recently, Google launched multisearch for food, which lets you take a picture of some tasty dish and type "near me" to find local restaurants with that on their menu.  This feature is available in English in the U.S. mobile search results.

On top of that, "Google Explore" seems to be more and more frequently appearing in search results. Google Explore appears in mobile search results for selected popular topics (Topic, People, Companies) if you scroll multiple pages down. Explore contains related articles and videos in a grid layout.

New Features in Tools We Regularly Use

There are a lot of new features in tools we regularly use for SEO. Ahrefs added a lot of improvements, such as Side-by-side SERP comparison, better tracking of videos in SERPs, and a new algorithm for calculating URL Ratings.

Feature availability will differ based on your plan. For example, the nice side-by-side comparison above is not available on my plan 🥲

Google Search Console has a new Shopping Tab Listings section which provides a more streamlined way of setting up a Google Merchant Center account to enable free (or paid) shopping listings to appear.

Screaming Frog has many new features such as parsing PDFs, new filters, or Flesch Readability Scores.

Updates for Technical SEOs

Cloudflare's Pages Functions are now out of beta and generally available. You can use Pages Functions to add server-side rendering to your application. That way, you can improve the UX and SEO of your site. As you know, Google renders JavaScript, but it takes ~9x more time to crawl and render JS content, so it's still best practice to use SSR.

An interesting change happened in WebKit browsers with Intelligent Tracking Prevention. A recent release changed the mechanism for JavaScript cookie expiration. Even though this is a small change, it's still interesting to read Simo Ahava's summary.

For an overall summary of how browsers treat cookies and other storage, it's best to head over to CookieStatus.com.

Today I have a tip aimed at SEO beginners or simply those who want to find low-hanging fruit opportunities for improvement on an existing website.

I'll show you how to export keywords from Google Search Console and compare them to elements on your site, such as titles and more.

This way, you can easily check if your content matches the popular keywords your visitors use in search. And find opportunities where you can improve your headlines or page titles.

Today I bring you a video with a tip aimed at SEO beginners or simply those who want to find low-hanging fruit opportunities for improvement on an existing website.

I'll show you how to export keywords from Google Search Console and compare them to elements on your site, such as titles and more.

This way, you can easily check if your content matches the popular keywords your visitors use in search. And find opportunities where you can improve your headlines or page titles.

Watch the video now and let me know if I should make more of these videos 😊

You'll find the usual recap of everything important in SEO below. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Jan

Google's October Spam Update

On October 19, Google launched yet another ranking update focused on fighting spam in SERPs. The rollout was complete as of October 21 and affected all languages.

So far, it seems that this update was targeting spammy sites that you probably don't want to see in SERPs anyway - sites with scraped content, duplicate, low-value content, and adult sites.

New Google Search Essentials

Google refreshed its Webmaster Guidelines and launched it under a new name - Google Search Essentials. With this new name come many small improvements as more practical examples.

Google Webmaster Guidelines have always been the best source of basic SEO information, so keep this in your bookmarks.

Google Search Essentials (formerly Webmaster Guidelines) | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google Developers

The Google Search Essentials make up the core parts of what makes your web-based content (web pages, images, videos, or other publicly-available material that Google finds on the web) eligible to appear and perform well on Google Search:

Google Developers

Site Names in Google's Search Results

Google introduced Site Names in mobile search results. Site names identify the website that is associated with each search result.

You can use structured data to indicate your website's preferred site name.

Site names are currently available for mobile Google Search results in English, French, Japanese, and German, and will be rolling out to additional languages over the next few months.

Site Names in Google Search | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google Developers

When Google lists a page in search results, it shows the name of the site the page comes from: this is called a site name. Learn how you can provide a site name to Google Search with WebSite structured data.

Google Developers

Details on Google Search Console data and limits

Google published a new summary of key information you need to know when working with GSC data.

This summary provides more details about data filtering and export limit. It also explains anonymized queries again - which is helpful since it is often a great source of confusion for new GSC users.

A deep dive into Search Console performance data filtering and limits | Google Search Central Blog | Google Developers

Google DevelopersDaniel Waisberg

KeywordInsights.AI Updates

KeywordInsights.AI, the up-and-coming set of tools for keyword research, pushed live a lot of updates last month.

A new SERP Similarity tool shows how two (or 3) keywords are similar - to help you better decide if you need to use one or two pages for targeting. This tool is free to use.

There are also plenty of other refinements and design improvements.

I highly recommend including KeywordInsights in your toolbox if you haven't already.

New Image Structured Data

Google added new documentation for image metadata in Google Images.

Previously, you had to use IPTC metadata (included in the image file itself) to show additional information, such as authorship or license in Google Images.

Now you can do the same using structured data.

Google Images SEO: Image Metadata | Documentation | Google Developers

When you specify image metadata, Google Images can show more details about the image, such as who the creator is, how people can use an image, and credit information.

Google Developers

Don't Change Image URLs

In Episode 48 of Search Off the Record, they discussed many topics related to image search.

One interesting point that John Mueller mentioned was about image URLs. Don't change image URLs unless you have to. Google crawls this type of content (which generally doesn't change very often) with little frequency. It will take a long time for the changes to take effect - heaven forbid if you change the URLs of all the images at once.

Even though I'm enjoying my vacation, SEO never sleeps, so here is the usual recap of everything you shouldn't miss in SEO ☺️

In this month's issue, you'll find:

• CAPTCHA alternative that will improve your conversion rates
• Updates to health searches on YouTube
• Recently discounted course for SEO professionals outside of the US
• Online conference tip
• Improved redirects on Cloudflare

And plenty more!

Enjoy, and till next time.

Jan

Recent Google Updates

September was packed with Google Updates:

• Helpful Content Update finished rolling out on September 9.
• On September 12, Google released a new core update.
• On September 20, Google released a new product reviews update affecting reviews in English.

Overall, the impact of these updates seems to be small, but your mileage may vary.

Updates from Search On 22

Google's big event, Search On 22, brought us a lot of announcements related to search.

They covered mobile search improvements, local search improvements, new shopping experience, or more information about personalization.

The best recap of all the news was published on Search Engine Land by Barry Schwartz:

Google Search Console Updates

There are a couple of handy updates that have recently come to Google Search Console:

• URL Inspection Tool now shows a longer screenshot of rendered pages
• New Search Console Merchant Listings report - Helps you identify structured data issues that may affect how your free listings appear in search results.
• New HTTPS report - In this report, you can view the list of pages served over HTTPS. You can also see the issues that prevent pages from being served as HTTPS, along with sample URLs.

Meta Description Guidelines Updated

Google has updated its meta descriptions help documentation to provide five examples of how to improve them. The documentation provides examples of bad vs. good meta descriptions.

The examples also explain why the example is bad or good. The meta description is a short snippet of text that appears below your website's URL on search engine results pages (SERPs). It allows you to create a call-to-action that encourages searchers to click through to your site.

SEO MBA courses have discounted pricing

Tom Critchlow has two courses for SEO professionals:

• Executive Presence - for senior-level SEO professionals who are working with senior stakeholders.
• The Art of Client Management - the course will help you manage expectations and retain clients more effectively.

In September, Tom introduced international pricing making his courses more affordable in countries with lower purchasing power.

So if you were interested in his courses, but the price seemed too high, give it a second look.

SparkTogether Online Conference

SparkToro announced its first online conference, which will take place on November 10.

Why should you care? Rand Fishkin, the founder of SparkToro, is one of the few people in the industry who can consistently deliver exceptional content. When you see an article from Rand, it'll be worth your time. So naturally, this conference grasped my interest.

If you find the conference interesting, you can still buy the tickets for a discounted early bird price.

Dynamic Redirects on Cloudflare

Cloudflare introduced dynamic redirects that let you set up redirects using various dynamic variables/conditions.

For example, you can redirect users based on their preferred language.

You can use them to redirect mobile traffic, filter requests based on cookies, or even provide an endpoint for live testing purposes.

https://blog.cloudflare.com/dynamic-redirect-rules/

Get Rid of CAPTCHA and Improve Your Conversion Rates

I hate captchas. Technology has evolved enough that we shouldn't be forced to solve stupid challenges such as "find all the tractors" to prove we are human.

And I'm not the only one - numerous tests show a negative impact of CAPTCHAs on conversion rates.

CAPTCHAs make it harder for people who are not tech-savvy to complete forms, which may result in them abandoning a form altogether. 1.47% of people leave a form outright when presented with a CAPTCHA. - https://baymard.com/blog/captchas-in-checkout

The great news is that Cloudflare recently announced Turnstile - their take on a user-friendly and privacy-oriented alternative to the standard reCAPTCHA.

It automatically chooses from a rotating suite of non-intrusive browser challenges based on telemetry and client behavior exhibited during a session.

Turnstile is free, easy to deploy, and makes your users happier while minimizing the data you send to third parties.

https://blog.cloudflare.com/turnstile-private-captcha-alternative/

Health Searches on YouTube Show Personal Stories

When people search YouTube for health-related keywords, they will start seeing personal stories from patients.

"Many times, people aren't coming to YouTube with a health question at all," YouTube says. "Instead, they come with a human question: how do I live with this?"

So apart from the previously introduced section "From health sources" showing content from selected trusted sources, you'll also see a new section called "Personal Stories".