AJ Kohn

It's Goog Enough! bit.ly/googenough #seo #search #google

@mayemusk @IfindRetards Cry more.

People who are damaging Tesla cars, stores and charging stations, are either paid for their criminal acts, or believe the liberal media lies and should be tagged with @IfindRetards I’m beyond furious!!!!

@RickySentar Exhibit A.

PSA: I will abandon Twitter again in the next week or so. I know most of my 'tribe' is here but I can't continue to support a platform and man that are so contrary to my beliefs. I hope to see you elsewhere. #seo #peaceout

@darth_na @victorpan @VorticonCmdr All potential factors but I think there's something more going on.

@victorpan @ajkohn @VorticonCmdr Off the top of my head... ... things that can alter results * Logged in/out/incognito * History (session/repeat etc.) * Cohort (similar recent searchers) * Device * Browser * OS (?) * GeoLoc * Browser Lang * Google used (Geo)? * Data Center * Index/Ranking updated * Test >>>

@victorpan @VorticonCmdr Indeed, what could cause a different SERP result when you're likely hitting the same data center. 🤔

@mcia_ For one client we talk about creating content galaxies. The galaxy is a topic but it is made up of a myriad of stars (aka pages/URLs).

@ajkohn yeah, a lot of nuance here The way I see it is not by single keyword ranking but topical ranking and ROI, generally better to target a topic. Often "topic" is confused with an opinionated definition vs SERP/intent based. Also, content supply in index has an effect

<#seo rant> SEO is about understanding the USER. How do they search? And what is the intent behind those searches? Some of the worst advice I've seen handed out over the last few years is to produce "good content" and optimize for topics. 1/?

Good gravy the grammar in this post is awful.

<#seo rant> I'm on record as being disappointed (an understatement) with the current ecosystem and SERPs. The playfield is tilted towards brands. It will make it very harder to win as a smaller site. And there's a cottage industry of people selling magic bullets 5/?

@mcia_ I'm all for topical expertise. I just think skyscraper content rarely works to achieve that. Millipede hubs are more effective and also cost efficient.

@ajkohn Fair points.

@mcia_ If you are targeting one piece of content to a cluster of keywords there's a good chance it's too broad and those who are more laser focused on one of those keywords will outrank you. Topical expertise is expressed through multiple URLs ranking for topical terms.

@ajkohn how do you define a “topic”? In our definition a topic is a cluster of keywords that have the same intent. So it’s a way to describe/define user intent.

@mostly_agree Correct. They closed some of the loopholes that allowed some manipulation. And identity also led to better cohorts of users so Google could weigh cohorts click data based on expertise or other facets.

@ajkohn SERP clickstream data is the key, but they know which bits of it to trust as signal in part due to wide distribution of Android with constant logging, users logging into Gmail or YouTube or other services, and Chrome having such a huge install base. Very hard to fake engagement

@mostly_agree Agree with most of this (pun intended) except for the Chrome usage data. Click data is still king.

@ajkohn The water cycle largely stopped, at least in terms of SEO, at least outside of parasitic hosting (goog enough) / site hacking / etc.

@glproductions @Ammon_Johns @GHBSmith @joshtyler 100% agree. I'd be optimizing for query classes and ensuring I'm always there for those types of queries. And if you came in on midnight carp you'd have crosslinks to all the related 'where to catch' terms to encourage further engagement.

@ajkohn @Ammon_Johns @GHBSmith @joshtyler Yep that makes sense to me! I think that's how lots of game info KWs work - and once the person is on the wiki (or whatever) they'll probably browse deeper from there, click internal links, all that jazz. But IMO it's rare to type the website's .com homepage to start browsing.

My exact opinion of the SEO industry. I'm sure there are many good people that go by the book and try to help, but they are massively outnumbered by charlatans. Worst of it all? Everybody knows the "black hat" tactics work best. Even the legit SEOs encourage breaking Google guidelines. Why wouldn't they? Everyone that dominates the serps does lol

@mostly_agree I've been working on a piece and am searching for supporting evidence on a theory. During the pandemic many brands invested in SEO. Where else were they going to put dollars? So in a few short years all the brands that were 'meh' at SEO were suddenly good.

@ajkohn "Your business has too few employees to compete in the ecosystem because we lifted the investment required to compete beyond your resources. The chunk size of competition is now larger." - Google If they were transparent about the above, during antitrust lawsuits, what happens?

@DeanCruddace This is an area where Google is increasingly failing. It's a bit in the weeds, but the value judgements Google makes on click data need to be updated to better reflect the reality of user behavior. Until that happens we'll likely see more of this.

@glproductions @Ammon_Johns @GHBSmith @joshtyler Someone in my family plays stardew valley. Here are a sample of their searches.

@Ammon_Johns @GHBSmith @ajkohn @joshtyler Even wikis, for example the Stardew Valley wiki, sure some people probably go to it directly. But I'd bet a heavy majority just type in "stardew valley [thing they want]" and then look for the wiki among search results. This is largely how gaming info content is surfaced.

@DeanCruddace I can no longer say that if you do everything right you will eventually be rewarded. But SEO is still the opposite of death by a thousand cuts, it's success through a thousand optimizations. And too many are EEAT hypnotized and ignoring basics and new strategies.

@thatkatieberry On a lark I looked at how that site is performing. And a quick look at socials shows a large following on Insta and Pinterest.

@thatkatieberry Not sure that's the right syntax. But ... 'what is vegan General Tso's made of?' might work.

@thatkatieberry I don't disagree with the NASCAR logo like clutter of SERPs. But you'll still get further with that than with 'Chinese Food'. And then 'Is General Tso's Chicken Spicy?', 'What's in General Tso's Chicken?', 'Why is it called General Tso's Chicken?' etc. etc.

But AJ, the way the SERPS are right now, you could search “how to make General Tso’s Chicken” and have to wade through 4 ads for local Chinese takeout, a shopping carousel of frozen General Tso’s Chicken, a People Also Search For, then a video carousel before you ever see a recipe link. How does that serve user intent?

@djpinna It has been a tough pill to swallow. Back when Moz was all that and a bag of chips I said no to posting there because I wanted all the brand equity for my site. I don't much like digital sharecropping. But ... those destinations now function more like a search platform.

@ajkohn Yah this is a hard pill. The internet for many has become specific destinations (apps and domains) like insta, YouTube, etc. Why no longer "webmasters" but "creators" of content on other domains.