Lily Ray’s Post

I checked 10,000 "best product" search results to see who Google is rewarding — something I've reported on for years. For the first time ever, Quora is in the top three domains overall. I won't out anyone but top-ranked answers are filled with spam and AI-generated responses. (I'm not going to do Google's job for them, and any SEO can find what I'm seeing within 60 seconds on Ahrefs / Semrush). When I report on anything like this, I'm not complaining. Google isn't going to make changes based on my writing here. I'm playing the game like everyone else. It just feels more than ever that Googlers themselves don't use Google. Kinda wild. I also feel like Googlers don't really "get" Quora, as separate threads ranking on the same search results often have identical replies, based on how the site works. As with Reddit, I get that there is value on Quora. There are real people giving advice, and a lot of it looked useful at a glance. Just the result of quadrupling Quora's search traffic in 12 months* is that they can't keep up with (or don't care to keep up with) the spam. *Third-party estimates from Ahrefs. Far worse is that this has extended to health-focused search results, which I've also reported on. Finally, I should clarify that Quora's prominence in the results is primarily due to ranking in the Discussions and Forums SERP feature, rather than "regular" results. If you want to learn more about the keywords I monitor for this analysis, you can look at reports like detailed . com/affiliate-serps/. I've been writing about SEO for 17 years and this is possibly the weirdest timeline we've been on. My next full industry report - Detailed Q4 - is going live next week, which I'm really excited to share. P.S. It is very rare that I ever cover independent sites without permission, but Rtings (in the image) are a few years past being a small brand - and a site people truly seem to love - so feels OK to mention them positively here.

Nice to see TechRadar on this chart!

An interesting article from Amsive about whether readers are genuinly finding Reddit and Quora search engine results "helpful". Google's claim that "people seem to like it" because they are clicking on the Reddit serp result may in fact be misleading data. In 9 times out of 10, a reader will click on the forum link because it is the top result only to be dissapointed because the answer is either not accurate, does not answer their search query, contains information that might be innacurate or even harmful (the article goes into more details). So does Reddit deserve such high rankings just because it is getting clicks? My answer is No. I'd rather have accurate AI generated content, thanks. #seo #reddit #quora #serps #searchengineoptimisation #hcu #aicontent https://lnkd.in/dVgAANVJ

Is Google Eyeing #Quora After Signing Content Deal with #Reddit? Exciting news in the SEO world! Last week, Google announced a $60 million annual deal with Reddit to access its content through an API. This has sparked speculation that Google might be in talks with Quora for a similar agreement. The news comes after SEO expert #GlennGabe observed a significant jump in the number of Quora pages ranking in Google search. This follows a similar trend with Reddit after Google's "hidden gems" update, leading Gabe to question if Google had special access to Reddit's content. Data seems to support this theory: #Semrush data shows a 73% increase in the number of Quora pages ranking in the top 100 of Google search results, from 6 million in May 2023 to 10.4 million today. While this is purely speculation, it raises the question: is Google seeking another "firehose" of content through a deal with Quora? Only time will tell, but this development is sure to keep SEOs on their toes! Stay tuned for further updates! Like | Share | Follow #googledeal #redditdeal #quorardeal #hiddengems #futureofseo #SEO #searchengineoptimization #googlenews #seocommunity #seotrends

A thought-provoking question on Quora:💡 "Is using the 'noindex' tag an effective method to remove a specific page from search result sitelinks?" The short answer is YES, but there are a few caveats to consider. First and foremost, sitelinks are those convenient little shortcuts that appear under a search result, directing users to specific pages within a website. While they enhance user experience and provide quick access to relevant content, sometimes you might want to have control over which pages appear as sitelinks. That's where the 'noindex' tag comes into play. The 'noindex' tag is an HTML meta tag that communicates with search engines, instructing them not to index a specific page. In other words, it's like telling the search engine - "Hey, don't include this page in your search results." 😏 While 'noindex' an influence sitelinks, it's just one tool in your SEO toolkit. Google's algorithms also take into account the page's relevance, user engagement, and other factors when determining sitelinks. So, if you're dealing with a page that's not aligning with your desired sitelinks, combining 'noindex' with other optimization techniques might yield better results. Let me know your thoughts on this. 🙂 #seostrategy #serp #googleranking #digitalamarketing #indexing #quora #optimization #visibility

We've all read posts that are stuffed full of keywords. They make no sense and we're annoyed that Google served the up to us. But what's the right balance? How do you know if you're using keywords just enough but not too much? Take a look at this post to learn more.

We've all read posts that are stuffed full of keywords. They make no sense and we're annoyed that Google served the up to us. But what's the right balance? How do you know if you're using keywords just enough but not too much? Take a look at this post to learn more.

Is Google Eyeing #Quora After Signing Content Deal with #Reddit? Exciting news in the SEO world! Last week, Google announced a $60 million annual deal with Reddit to access its content through an API. This has sparked speculation that Google might be in talks with Quora for a similar agreement. The news comes after SEO expert Glenn gabe observed a significant jump in the number of Quora pages ranking in Google search. This follows a similar trend with Reddit after Google's "hidden gems" update, leading Gabe to question if Google had special access to Reddit's content. Data seems to support this theory: #Semrush data shows a 73% increase in the number of Quora pages ranking in the top 100 of Google search results, from 6 million in May 2023 to 10.4 million today. While this is purely speculation, it raises the question: is Google seeking another "firehose" of content through a deal with Quora? Only time will tell, but this development is sure to keep SEOs on their toes! Stay tuned for further updates! Like | Share | Follow #googledeal #redditdeal #quorardeal #hiddengems #futureofseo #SEO #searchengineoptimization #googlenews #seocommunity #seotrends

Why do anonymous Reddit users sometimes outrank expert bloggers on Google? John Mueller from Google explains: - 📈 Google's algorithm values relevance and usefulness over just credibility. - 🤔 User-generated content on Reddit can be highly valuable due to hands-on experiences. - 🌐 Google's ranking is multidimensional, considering various factors beyond authorship. - 💡 SEO needs a broader approach, focusing on diverse signals for better results. #SEO #GoogleRanking #ContentStrategy - 🔍 Google's focus is on surfacing the most relevant and useful content to users. - 🛠 Hands-on experiences from users often provide practical insights valuable to search queries. - 🧩 Google's ranking system involves multiple factors, including solving user problems and cultural nuances. - 🚀 Adapting SEO strategies to consider various dimensions can improve search performance. - 📊 Embracing user-generated content as part of SEO strategy can enhance visibility and engagement. https://lnkd.in/gjk9fwiN

Google will surface personal insights and experiences from social media blog posts and forums. This is not an updated helpful content update. The post Google Search ranking improvement aims to surface hidden gems appeared first on Search Engine Land. #SEO #DigitalMarketing #GoogleAdwords