The Weekly Wrap – 30th January 2019

SEO: What will the SERP of tomorrow look like? Four changes to prepare for today

Here are some of the chances we can expect to influence the SERP of tomorrow.

SEO: Mapping the Overlap of SERP Feature Suggestions

Tips that can help you better understand the topics your unique search landscape is structured around.

SEO: Uncovering SEO Opportunities via Log Files

The only tool that can give you a real overview of how search engines crawl your site are log files.

SEO: 8 free technical SEO tools you probably haven’t heard of

This list pulls together eight of the more unheard-of tools to help you on your quest to improve the technical state of your site (for free).

SEO: Link building techniques that still work in 2019

Eight link building techniques that can still work for you in 2019.

SEO: SEO Guide 2019: Your Strategy for This Year

While many methods still work, others aren’t as good anymore, and you’ll also need to include plenty of new ones in your repertoire.

SEO: How to keep your SEO team (and yourself) relevant

Ongoing education, conferences and case study discussions not only help clients but also your own career growth.

SEO: 4 building blocks to help your brand’s SEO strategy succeed

Crawlability, optimization, brand engagement and knowledge-content creation are all important pieces to create a more competitive SEO program.

SEO: Google Recommends To Disavow Links That Can Trigger Manual Actions

John Mueller recommends in addition to disavow links that link to manual actions but also links that would lead to manual actions.

SEO: 7 Tips That Will Help You Optimize Your Keyword List for SEO

Keyword optimization is an essential part of any successful content marketing strategy – it’s just more nuanced now.

Local: 21 Web Directories That Still Have Value in 2019

Sites that are more than a mere citation opportunity for your business.

Paid Search: Save your grant account from suspension with this script

Scripts to help you identify negative phrases to improve CTR and QS for grant accounts at risk of suspension.

Paid Search: Amazon advertising attribution: Here’s how it works

There are three dashboards on Amazon and each one tracks attribution differently.

Social: 14 Ways to (Literally) Boost Your Facebook Page ROI

Here’s a quick checklist to optimize your Page, increase organic results, and boost Facebook exposure for any size budget.

Social: How Google Analytics Attributes Traffic From Facebook

Learn how Google tracks traffic and conversions and how to resolve discrepancies between Google Analytics and Facebook Ads Manager.

KEY INDUSTRY UPDATES:

SEO: Google Chrome API changes may disable most ad blockers

The company says the changes are about page speed, security and user privacy; critics are more cynical about Google’s motives.

SEO: Data: Google organic search CTRs decline on desktop, see big drop on phones

Click-through rates (CTRs) continue to decline on Google search results on desktop and smartphones in both the U.S. and Europe in favor of paid clicks and no-clicks.

SEO: Focusing on the new Search Console

Here are some of the upcoming changes in Search Console that we’re planning on making towards end of March, 2019.

SEO: Google May Drop The Old Search Console In March

John Mueller said Google is currently aiming to deprecate most, if not all, of the old Search Console by March of this year.

SEO: Google Image Search Changes Coming This Year: Think Different

Google’s John Mueller said bigger changes are coming to Google Image search this coming year.

SEO: Myth Busting: HTTPS Not Required For Google Indexing & Ranking

John Mueller from Google says HTTPS is not a factor in deciding whether or not to index a page, at all.

SEO: Google On Potential Issues With Canonicals & JavaScript

John Mueller provides a very detail response to how Google treats canonicals and how JavaScript based sites that use them might run into issues.

SEO: Google Fixing AMP Errors; Nothing To Fix On Your End Now

Widespread AMP errors with Google Search Console and Google mobile search.

SEO: Google: Sitemap Files Don’t Need To Be Indexed To Work

John explained that XML sitemaps do not need to be indexed to work. No-indexing a Sitemap file is irrelevant because they are not really web pages.

SEO: Mueller previews Google image search changes, old Search Console sunsetting at NYC meetup.

Mueller said that image search will be a “bigger topic” this year for the webmaster and SEO community.

Mobile: Google adds voice input and spoken results to mobile web search

The search giant appears to be conditioning searchers to use voice across all platforms.

Mobile: Google is Testing Mobile SERPs With Up to 14 Ads

Google has been spotted testing a total of 14 ads in a single mobile search results page.

Mobile: Facebook to Allow Communication Between Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp

Facebook is reportedly working on a solution for users on Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp to message each other between platforms.

Paid Search: Google Ads Poaching Advertiser Clients Again But Now Requiring Opt Out

Google is requiring advertisers to opt out if they don’t want Google to take over their campaign in Google Ads.

Social: Facebook launches brand safety certification program with DoubleVerify, OpenSlate as launch recipients

Facebook  Thursday it is launching a brand safety certification program for Facebook Marketing Partners.

Social: Facebook launches rebranded ‘auto inventory ads,’ expands retargeting

Facebook announced on Friday the next iteration of its dynamic ads for auto.

Social: Facebook Group Changes: How the Invited Category Impacts Groups

YouTube has introduced several different search and recommendation features to its mobile apps and desktop page to help with the discoverability of videos.

Read Our Blog Post on: DMSS 2018: Gregory Elfrink – Beyond SEO: Next Level Content – 29th January 2019