Rank Ranger Blog

Love it or hate it, Google is very good at what it does. While it certainly has had its share of flops (G+), it's main product, search, is head and shoulders above everyone else.

The question is, why?

Sure, I could go into all the algorithmic underpinnings that make Google unique. We could go through a history of Google and how PageRank was entirely novel, and so forth. But instead of that, in this post, I'd like to take a more thematic look at everyone's favorite search engine. Let's pop the hood and take a deep look at Google's traits and how that translates to it being the best search engine and more.

GatherUp CEO Aaron Weiche joins the podcast to share novel ways you can repurpose online reviews!

• How to repurpose your reviews in ways you never thought of
• How to get smart with repurposing the right reviews at the right time
• Where you should be showcasing your Google reviews and how to do it

Plus, why the age-old advice of writing content for Featured Snippets might not be the best idea.

All good things start with observations. In this case, I thought I noticed that Google was showing much longer meta-descriptions towards the top of the SERP. In fact, the more queries I ran the more it seemed that Google was showing longer meta-descriptions at the top of the SERP and shorter ones towards the bottom.

Is this true? Is Google showing longer meta-descriptions for those URLs that rank better?

To find out I analyzed 5,000 keywords... for a month.

The fantastic Nik Ranger joins the podcast to discuss what goes into doing SEO for eCommerce sites:

• From technical elements to content – what should eCommerce SEO focus on?
• How changes in online shopping impact SEO for eCommerce
• A look at structured data and Featured Snippets for eCommerce

Plus, we dive into the entity sites Google shows inside the Knowledge Panel!

Back in 2019, I was trying to please a difficult client. I’m sure you know what that’s like.

At some point, he threatened to fire us. He wanted better rankings. By next week.

Let’s just say he wasn’t the most reasonable person to deal with. Nothing we said could persuade him. Since his site was ranking on page one of Google for many terms, Featured Snippets seemed like a great option that could yield results within a week. After a stressful week of running tests and experiments on my own, I was able to get some impressive looking Featured Snippets for the next meeting. Crisis averted.

Having gone through that experience, I wanted to create a deep and comprehensive guide that could help you come up with strategies for winning Featured Snippets. This is part 2.

It's shocking but in a way not surprising. We have "SEOed" creating authoritative content. What do I mean? We have turned the very task of understanding what it means to create authoritative content into another cliched and superficial analysis filled with endless amounts of buzzwords. It's not only incredibly ironic, but it is quite the accomplishment.

You can already guess what I'm going to do with this post.... I'm going to explain what I think the foundation of actually creating authoritative content is while I rant and rave about some of the outlooks and ideas being floated around out there.

Let's get this fun started.

The wonderful Orit Mutznik joins the podcast to share her thoughts on what makes a commerce blog effective (and what doesn't):

• Aim to sell or aim to inform, what are you really trying to do with a commerce blog?
• How hard do you push your commerce content on your commerce blog?
• What works, what doesn’t, and why so many commerce blogs are ineffective!

Plus, what makes a good SEO study good?

Cosmic balance. It exists in reality (perhaps) and it exists on the SERP (evidently). Just as Google announced a new verification badge that could set businesses back 50 bucks the search engine forwent its commission on sales made via Buy on Google! How's that for bringing balance to the SERP?

Plus, has COVID-19 become the norm on the SERP? With less COVID related updates to features and more consistent COVID rankings, that seems to be the case (for better or worse).

Of course, there were like a gazillion other tests, changes, and updates to the SERP.

So let's have at it... Here's the SERP News for August 20

The great John Mueller joins the podcast to share his thoughts on interacting with the SEO industry:

• How talking to search marketers of all levels impacts the SEO dialogue
• Handling the problems of SEOs and the complications that come with it
• On dealing with SEO controversy

Plus, we take a look at Google’s ability to update entities in a flash!

SEO is a long term game. No question about that. Although there generally are no shortcuts, Google has given us a unique opportunity.

Featured Snippets.

Not a magic bullet, Featured Snippets tend to attract more attention than regular organic rankings. This means they have potentially higher click through rates than even the top-ranking URLs.

This two-part guide is a thorough how-to manual to winning Featured Snippets. In part one of this guide, you'll learn why Google creates Featured Snippets in the first place and how to find Featured Snippet opportunities.

Mark Bealin joins the podcast to discuss how to differentiate your local SEO strategy:

• How to think strategically about local SEO
• Why strategic local SEO beats out a more tactical approach
• How links and reviews fit into the strategic mindset

Plus, we take a look at why the COVID-19 SERP seems to have stabilized!

From its algorithm updates to its overall approach to the SERP, Google has been latently encouraging us to take on new content constructs and patterns. In fact, Google has been covertly pushing for the creation of more refined and targeted content. However, that nudge towards more targeted content leaves content creators and SEOs in a bit of a tough spot as Google has yet to adopt an ecosystem that truly supports the kind of content they're pushing for.

Here's a look at the content environment Google has been creating on the SERP, the problems with it, and what the search engine might do going forward