👀 Google on How to Rank on Google in 2024

GM nerds,

Welcome back to the newsletter that covers the Google / Reddit fiasco more comprehensively than the lamestream media:

(h/t @ematt)

More funnily too imo.

Anyway, here’s what’s good this week:

→ Another Massive AI Overviews L📉

→ Anthropic’s Insane New AI Feature👀

→ Why TikTok Matters & How its Algo Works🤯

→ Google on How to Rank on Google in 2024 🤔

→ more, obviously 💬

But first…

​Today's Video 🗣️🎙️​

In today's video, I cover the essentials of local SEO, focusing on optimizing a new Google My Business location. I outline my approach to building local citations and managing keyword incorporation effectively. I also break down each step, including timing and execution, so you can confidently navigate your local SEO strategy. So come through!

​YouTube​​

What’s Going Down @ Google 📊

→ Ready for another AI Overviews fail? The headline reads: “Google AI Inaccurate In 43% Of Finance-Related Searches.” From the piece:

“We're used to bad information coming from social media sources (looking at you TikTok), but Search was historically a way for users to find the correct information. Until now…”

Oof.

→ Based on the massive Ls that AI Overviews keeps achieving, Google couldn’t help but introduce even more Generative AI into Search Results. Throughout search results, users are finding featured snippets under headings like “Things to Know.”

Whatever it takes to keep Search from driving traffic to small publishers, I guess.

→ Bullying works, y’all. John Mueller has gone private on Twitter / X, I repeat, John Mueller has gone private on Twitter / X. He took to LinkedIn to inform the public that Core Web Vitals don’t really matter for ranking, FWIW.

→ This thread- How to rank in Google in 2024, according to Google - summarizes 100 pages of Google documentation into a summary that’ll take about 2 minutes to read. Ambitious? For sure. Worth a look? Why not, sure. The problem, of course, is the “according to Google” part.

→ Here’s an interesting take on the possible Google break-up— why aren’t more people talking about how YouTube should absolutely be a massive part of that, as it definitely played (and plays) a major role in Google’s monopolizing of the web?

→ Charles Floate’s History of Parasite SEO details the many peaks and rises in the history of this marketing technique, starting all the way back from its humble beginnings in the old black hat forums of 2006. If nothing else, it’s a nostalgia trip.

→ If you’re looking for podcast content, this episode of Voices of Search covers “Google’s Shift to Human-focused Content.” It looks at the impacts on SEO strategies, parses out what elements Google is prioritizing in this shift, and examines how some brands are successfully adapting.

AI Insight 🤖

→ Anthropic’s “Computer Use” feature allows Claude to control your computer screen based on a prompt and then use your computer freely to execute tasks. And, as you probably expect, it’s legitimately insane. The demo videos are wild, click through.

​Here’s the DL on the feature:

“The model can imitate keystrokes, button clicks, and mouse gestures, essentially emulating a person sitting at a PC. Humans remain in control by providing specific prompts that direct Claude’s actions, like ‘use data from my computer and online to fill out this form’.”

Wild.

→ Are you tired of digital marketers posting their “Ultimate Guide to AI SEO” yet? If not, click through, because this one has some pretty good ideas. It covers how to use AI for keyword research, content writing, landing page copy generation, generating FAQ sections, and upgrading old content.

→ BTW— an AI tool called NotebookLM is out here turning posts into podcasts in other languages.

Social Media Round-up📲

→ This piece on how the TikTok algorithm works, authored by Giraffe Social, is really good work.

The article highlights the 4 key factors that drive the TikTok algorithm:

1. User Interaction (likes & comments, watch time, and shares & follows)
2. Video Information (captions, hashtags, sounds)
3. Device & Account Settings (language preferences, location, device type)
4. User Demographics and Interests (content interests, previous history, and existing habits).

With this in mind, the article gives some immediately actionable tips for maximizing engagement on the platform. It also breaks down the For You Page, why it matters, and how to game it.

→ That same article also lays out Why TikTok Matters and I figured it’s worth sharing, just in case some of you are still skeptics:

- 1 billion+ active users globally
- Users spend 95 minutes per day on average scrolling on the app
- has a 150% higher engagement rate than Instagram
- 90% of users visit the app daily
- 70% of users say TikTok content helps them discover new products or brands

I mean, c’mon.

→ An expansion to Twitter / X’s “Radar” tool (FKA “Insights”) just dropped, directing Premium+ users toward emerging trends as they happen in real-time. It’s not currently available for all Premium+ users, but is slowly rolling out, and may be available to you.

→ Guess how many times over Reddit has grown in the SERP since June 2023? Go ahead, just guess. Then click through for your answer.

Jacky Chou​
Founder of Indexsy
hello@indexsy.com
Let's Connect on Twitter👇

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