Core update complete + Brands dominate SEO

Pro Snippet "Google's August Core Update has drawn to a timely conclusion. The long-anticipated, much-awaited recovery for Helpful Content Update victims? Partial at best. Meanwhile, Google's results seem to be an ever tougher place to compete for smaller brands, and a wide variety of people are worrying about various SERP features only making this worse." - Tom Capper, Senior Search Scientist, Moz What We're Reading:   The Helpful Content Update Was Not What You Think Tom Capper digs into the fate of tens of thousands of sites through the Helpful Content Updates, and reveals the surprising reality of what impacted sites have in common - and it isn't (un)helpful content. Interview Of Google's Search Liaison On The August 2024 Core Update Barry Schwarz interviews Google's Danny Sullivan. As usual with Google official statements, there's not a lot of news here. But there is some refreshing contrition regarding the mistakes that have been made in recent updates. An Open Letter to Google from a Small Publisher Meanwhile, hear from one of those victims - a thought provoking exploration of what has happened to small, specialist brands in search, and the difficult tradeoffs Google has to balance. The Sites Dominating Google's Top Stories SERP Feature in 2024 Talking of big-brands dominating search - this is a news-focused piece, analysing the Top Stories feature and what it can tell us about news SEO today. Here's How 7 News Audience Directors Are Thinking About Google's AI Overviews What do the SEOs on the frontlines at major publishers think about Google's AI Overviews? Opinions are varied, but refreshingly measured. How to Relaunch a Website Without Losing Search Visibility Learn how to set yourself up for success when planning and executing a site migration or overhaul. Tina Reis covers common reasons for the loss of search visibility as well as key steps to take to avoid seeing that dreaded drop in traffic. Sins of an Agency: Parting Ways With Our Biggest Client How do you decide whether to fire or keep your biggest client? Discover how one agency used a risk-benefit analysis to make a difficult decision. Do Backlinks Impact Rankings on Google? Joy Hawkins talks through why she considers links as important for local rankings on Google and how she tested her theory. Elizabeth Rule on Scaling Multi-Location Brands with Local SEO (Podcast Episode) In this podcast episode, Claire Carlile is joined by Elizabeth Rule from Sterling Sky, to discuss how to successfully scale your business using local SEO. Yelp Sues Google Over Local Search Dominance Yelp wants to make sure the fallout of Google's recent woes extends to local SEO - and, of course, their own bottom line.         Products  |   Learn  |   Community  |   Blog  |   About . Moz, 720 Robson St, 400  Vancouver, BC V6Z 1A1 Canada You received this email because you are subscribed to The Moz Top 10 newsletter from Moz. Update your email preferences.  Unsubscribe from all future emails.