Clubhouse: SEO Fundamentals 7-27-21

It seems like in the summer months our sessions were a little light in the range of questions, but never in the depth of answers.

Some Questions from this Clubhouse SEO Fundamentals Session:

1. How do you help a client that has Gateway domains?
   • This is an advanced question
   • Gateway domains are websites that are created to generate traffic, then redirect them to a different website.
   • This is generally not a recommended practice. A website should be able to rank for the content that is actually on the website.
   • When you use a gateway domain, there are myriad ways of how this can negatively impact your domain.
     • If you are connected to a non-relevant site, the misalignment is jarring for Users and Search Engines.
     • If the domain pointing to you could have been penalized or reselling info, you could be sharing that penalty or have duplicate content.
     • Google for more challenges.
   • The best thing to do is get the content on the main site and allow the remaining site to compete.
   • Landing pages and branding pages are a little different as they tend to dovetail into a website.
   • Note: Through the conversation, it was discovered the website in question was given a manual penalty for these efforts.
2. How do we use no-follow for links?
   • It's a little piece of code you insert on the link.
     • You're website CMS should have the option
   • The idea is you are telling the search engines that you are point to a website, but you are not passing any credibility to the site.
     • It's like saying I know a person I can refer you to, but I don't know them that well.
   • You should consider this for:
     • Sensitive sites that may be associated with your site
     • If you have too many external links
     • If the link is not key to the page it lives on
3. Follow-up Question: What are other attributes for External Links?
   • Sponsored links: Tells a Search Engine that you are linked to sponsored content.
   • UGC (User Generated Content): Signals that you are not lending editorial credibility to the site.
   • No-Follow: Signals to not pass any credibility onto the site
   • Do-Follow: Signals to the search engines that you have vetted the link and wish to share value.
   • You can read more here: https://www.semrush.com/blog/nofollow-sponsored-and-ugc-links-guide/ 
4. How do I write words for all the content I want to rank for?
   • Focus on Business Needs, write the content users need to engage with your site.
   • Refer to your business strategy, build-out core products, and services first.
   • Write content that established and builds up the buyer relationship.
   • David suggested reviewing the 5 levels of awareness.
     • Here is a link I found and liked: https://www.outbrain.com/blog/the-5-stages-of-customer-awareness-and-how-to-create-content-for-each/
   • Focus on quality and use of the site over quantity.
5. How do we rank better for a new website? (We were told to create content regularly)
   • Check what is ranking already
     • Work on content for the pages that are on the 2-4th pages of the SERPS (Search Engine Rankings Page).
   • Itamar Suggests:
     • Thruuu: https://app.samuelschmitt.com/
       • It shows you SERP data and ranks
     • Screaming Frog: https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
       • It shows you code errors and suggestions
     • SEM Rush: https://www.semrush.com/
       • It shows you information about your website and competitor information.
6. July update, it wasn't about web vitals but it seems to have taken effect.
   • The update in July was to address Spam websites.
   • Google is releasing web core vitals slowly.
   • More info: https://searchengineland.com/google-july-2021-core-update-is-finished-rolling-out-350380
7. How do you de-index pages in bulk?
   • 410: Tells the searches engines the page is gone, permanently.
     • You can set the various pages to this status
     • This is the nuclear option, great for limited promos.
     • More Status Code Options: https://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec10.html
8. What is a silo?
   • Sort information into silos for users
     • Think topics or business needs
   • Content for establishing insight for Search Engines
   • Ideally, these should lead to results
9.  How do I improve my click-thru rate?
   • Create content that builds authority and entices people to stay on the site.
   • Check your meta descriptions and make sure they are enticing clicks on the Search Engine Results page.
10. How do you determine what content needs to be optimized?
    • Test and Measure
    • Use SEO plugin for help

SEO Moderators for this Clubhouse SEO Fundamentals