Post of the Week
WTF is Ranch Style SEO
One day I want to be cool enough to coin a name for a concept I made up, it's a life-long dream that I just thought of but IMMEDIATELY know in my heart it's something I must do.
Here, Bernard of Clearscope is talking about what, I suppose, you could call "the opposite of the ultimate guide."
Instead, you write very directly about a lot of very related topics. It's maybe not SEO's newest idea, but it's framed in a really compelling way, and something worth trying--especially if you're struggling with ranking your content.
Sponsored Link
Are Aged Domains Still Valuable In SEO?
After the March algorithm update, a lot of people are wondering if aged domains are still valuable—do they still work?
IMO, the game has changed. Using them as a quick link injection on a shit site for an easy win—those days are behind us.
But if you’ve got a REAL business doing REAL BUSINESS things (like selling products or offering a service)?
Aged domains can help big time. Check this screenshot of what I’m talking about — where at least three redirects from relevant, aged domains gradually added continuously contributed to growth for the client.
Want to get in on this yourself/for your clients? Check out this great service from Odys where they completely manage your 301 redirects for you.
(This service is NOT for everyone, and Odys reserves the right to refuse working with content sites).
News
Woo.com Reverts Back To WooCommerce.com
Undoing a 301 redirect/rebrand is like trying to uninvite a vampire into your house: it's difficult and the end of the process you'll probably be left defeated, with all the blood drained from your body.
Talking exsanguinated, y'all.
Moving to Woo.com created challenges for our users to find WooCommerce in Google searches, which were made worse following Google’s March update. To address those challenges, we assembled a group of SEO experts and consultants to evaluate the best way to build on the strength of the WooCommerce brand. We collectively believe that reverting back to WooCommerce.com will deliver the best outcomes for WooCommerce and the wider Woo community.
😬😬😬
Rumors of Google Eyeing a Hubspot Acquisition
There was a lot of buzz about this last week, but currently it's an "all smoke, no fire" kind of situation until we hear further.
I was trying to think of why this would even be a thing they're interested in but... maybe ads? Helps their ad sales? IDK...
Would be shocked if the regulators were cool with this one lol...
Content
Deep Content: The Antidote to AI Content?
Great post from Josh/Ahrefs on starting to move away from writing content that ChatGPT (and similar AI content plays) can easily answer, and start moving toward deep content with genuine expert insights and unique data.
prioritize deep topics that AI will struggle to answer and create interesting and engaging content about them. That’s how you build an SEO moat in an AI world.
This strategy pairs well with the Ranch Style post of the week--writing a bunch of easily-answered-by-AI ranch-flavored post is not gonna get it done...
Case Study
No One Is Seeing Recoveries From The September HCU
It's rough out there...
I have not seen one site who claimed to be hit by the September 2023 helpful content update claim also to recover with the March 2024 core update. I have seen some show me evidence of recoveries from previous core updates (some were confused and thought they were hit by the HCU but were hit by the core updates).
Well, that's not great. But maybe we just need to give it more time??
Or maybe... it's hopeless.
What do you think?
Signing Off
Thanks SO MUCH for sticking with me and reading this SEO newsletter. Just wanted to take a moment and tell you that I appreciate you. :)
Keep an eye out next week for TWS #216 headed your way on Monday (no eclipses planned...)
If you wouldn't mind doing me a quick favor: just hit reply and LMK what you thought--did you like this edition? Any specific things you'd like to see me cover in next weeks? I love hearing from readers!
Newsletter writing is a lonely business...
Hello again, The Weekly SEO readers!
Yes, we're back in business, being consistent with these sends, delivering to you the most "can't miss" articles from the past week, as well as my thoughts on WHY they're important/what to do with this info.
And yes, this email is supposed to go out on Monday, but I write these all day of (no AI, just my fingers on this keyboard) and Monday was kind of a ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT so I had to take time off (and Tuesday was spent putting most of this together).
I live in northern Vermont and it was TOTAL ECLIPSE DAY, 100% TOTALITY DAY--right in my backyard. Amazing.
Pic related: it's our view during the darkness of the eclipse :)
So cool, like, monumentally awesome. If you're still kicking around in in the US in 2044/2045 def. catch the next totality. Very memorable!
Anyway, hello post-eclipse readers, let's dig into some SEO...
The Weekly SEO