Google Gary’s SMX AMA

Gary Illyes from Google spent a while at SMX doing an interesting, and extended, AMA session.

He covered quite a bit of ground including linking & mentions, Mobile First Indexing, JavaScript, and the perils of disavowing links.

Read more in this an extract from TWIS SEO News & Updates 3rd November 2017.

#SEO #SEONews #Google #SMX #AMA

Key Issues Summary:

• Eric Enge has posted a really good write-up of Gary Illyes’ extended Ask Me Anything session at SMX east recently.
• There’s a lot in there, as you’d expect, but some of the highlights are:
  • Google uses mentions on the web to contextualise your website. Basic External Linking & Mentions
  • Mobile first is rolling out.
  • Google struggles with PWAs as Google’s web rendering service is on Chrome 41 and PWAs uses more advanced JavaScript – remember JavaScript Sites Lose Out on 35% of Traffic and Revenue.
  • They are excited about the new Google Search Console, but it will be in beta a while longer.  New Google Search Console Layout Coming
  • Google loves ads. Well, who doesn’t?
  • Don’t use disavow. It’s a big stick and bad links are normal.

Key Actions To Take:

1. Read Eric’s post there are some gems in it.
2. Try not to deconstruct Gary’s words too much. There are things he can’t say, bosses he has to report to, and internal politics play a part in what actually makes it into the algorithms.
3. That said, try not to take everything he does say absolutely literally for the same reasons as above.
4. Stop pruning content and disavowing links. There are better ways to achieve better outcomes.
5. Say thanks to reddit for giving us the AMA!
6. Click here to contact me to discuss this further.

Insights & Discussion:

We’d all love to have the insights into Google algorithms that people like Gary and John Mueller have. However, it is really worth remember that they are cogs in the machine. They do not and cannot know everything. They will be across big changes, and may know some of the detail, but will not know it all at the exact code level.

In fact, it’s better to surmise that unlike Coke’s recipe, there is no central list of everything that goes into the algorithm that one person could know. If there was, we’d have a leak by now and the “secrets” would be revealed. Humans are much poorer at keeping secrets than computers.

For a long time I have advocated that no one knows the algorithm, and I think this is borne out by the post-update fluctuations we see, as Google reacts to unintended consequences. If they knew the algorithm, those fluctuations would have already been sorted before release. Too many people spend too long assuming the algorithm is knowable. It’s not.

More Information:

• H/T SE Land

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I recently wrote about how Google’s Mobile First is Not Mobile Friendly. Read it now.

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• So, Google Gary’s insights from SMX came out in this AMA.
• Google counts mentions.
• Mobile First is rolling out slowly,
• Google’s JavaScript rendering is patchy & out-dated.
• GSC will be coming out of beta eventually.
• Don’t disavow links. There are better things to be doing.
• Read The State of SEO in mid-2017.
• Read about how Google’s Mobile First Index is not Mobile Friendly.
• Finally, get your content ranking well on Google by starting to understand Find Crawl Index.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your web property, or would like to know how to implement them, please feel free to contact me.

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