Darth Autocrat (Lyndon NA) Profile picture
Darth Autocrat: Internet business consultant (SEM (SEO/PPC), CM & SMM, with UX, CRO & ORM) I Fix things for other SEOs, (or what they broke). He/Him
Nikos Kapsomenakis Profile picture Viacheslav Varenia 🇺🇦 Profile picture dragondelis 🇺🇦 Profile picture Biz Mobi Profile picture a angga Profile picture 5 subscribed
Oct 24 6 tweets 2 min read
1/?
:: Update or Refresh? ::

Technically - these are Not the same thing.

Some people treat them as synonymous,
but there are differences!

Update:
For content/data etc.,
you add/replace parts - bringing content,
yes,
up to date!

>>>

#SEO #Content

2/?

Refresh:
Usually tweaks and changes to the existing content,
(corrections, rewording etc.) - though not always insignificant.

Example:
Let's say you have a news story about a lost kitten.
(Awww - poor kitty!)

Later on, someone spots a type and ambiguity issues.

>>>
Oct 12 9 tweets 3 min read
.
So ... I have some saved searches.

I use these searches as sources of "inspiration".

Sadly ... one of my "inspirational sources",
@RossHudgens
has blocked me!

But ... why?

Let's find out!
:D

>>>

#SEO Cropped screenshot - Shows the profile picture and banner image for @RossHudgens, along with the "You're blocked" message 2/?

Let's look at our last interaction!

Ross decides to do a "correlation 'study'",
looking at URLs.



>>>
Cropped screenshot - Initial Tweet by @RossHudgens, and a reply from myself (@darth_na).  1st tweet: Ross's - 3:39 PM · Sep 29, 2023 /KEYWORD/ is (most of the time) a better URL choice than /what-is-KEYWORD/ for definitional topics.  Why?  • Short URLs perform better • On average, short version is higher search volume • Gives you future flexibility if SERP evolves (example: topic becomes more well-known)  <image : contains a bar chart (no alt-attribute!)> X-Axis : Number of characters in URL (Median : 15-35) Y-Axis : Ranking Position in Google (1-10) The results (X : Y) 1 : 17 2 : 26 3 : 27...
Oct 4 7 tweets 2 min read
@Kevin_Indig Personally - I find there are (should be!) more overlaps than stand-outs.

Things like UX are typically large-scope/site wide,
and should be done (to a degree) for any sized site,
as one small change has impact across the board.

The big differences tend to be...

>>> @Kevin_Indig >>>

Tech debt
Frankensites
Politics/Personalities
Remits/lanes
Permission chains
Paperwork/Justification
Communication
Prioritisation
Volume/Quantity of edits
Real data analysis over simple charts

But ... usually - there are departments and teams.
Not 1 SEO doing it all

>>>
Aug 14 10 tweets 2 min read
.
:: SEO is cheaper than Paid ? ::

This irks me a little - as it is a general assumption,
and often ignores the "cost" of SEO
(but at least he didn't say "free traffic" :D)

As is often the case - it depends!

>>>

#SEO #PPC #SMM >>>

The "cost" of Paid is typically:
1) Initial outlay for media
2) Fairly consistent cost for presence
3) Initial cost of "pages"

The "cost" of SEO usually goes:
1) Initial cost for "pages"
2) Cost to optimise pages
3) Initial cost of "site" optimisation

>>>
Jul 21 30 tweets 5 min read
.
:: Presentation and Perception matters! ::

This is why I'm "anti-blog".
The crux of the issue is how content is presented and perceived,
and a large part of this is based on information-architecture and navigation systems.

If you rely on rolling/dynamic nav ...

#SEO >>>

... then you have "unstable" and "inconsistent" navigation.

The internal links to that content changes over time,
and that doesn't just influence SEO,
it alters how users see things.

>>>
Jun 18 10 tweets 3 min read
.
:: Crowded Content ::

In many cases, there are competitors for topic(s) you want to target

You have several options:
1) Find terms that aren't competed
2) Find terms that are weakly competed
3) Provide more value
4) Produce multiple inter-supporting pieces

>>>

#SEO #Content >>>

: Non-competed :
This is often harder than it sounds.
It's also complicated by semantic-clustering.
(the "exact" phrase may not be competed, but there are likely umpteen variations that are!).

Further, in the vast majority of cases,
these will be (very!) low volume

>>>
Jun 17 6 tweets 2 min read
.
:: ROI - You're doing it Wrong! ::

Not aimed at anyone specific,
but just been reminded of it...

1) You don't include costs
2) You don't factor in time (to implement/effect)
3) People push the %, but don't provide the "actuals"

>>>

#SEO #Marketing >>>

Relative figures (grown by X%, gain by N%, return of Y%)
don't mean squat unless there is a real figure provided alongside (ideally, the initial/base figure - failing that, the final, and people can do the number crunching).

Why is it important?

>>>
Jun 17 8 tweets 3 min read
...

Pray/Hope
4️⃣ ... it's for the right audience
5️⃣ ... it's something that contributes to your business goals
6️⃣ ... it's a relevant topic that aligns with your site

Or - do it properly/better.

#Parrot #SEO >>>

Simply copying is Not a good move
(nor is it a "strategy"!).

Most sites already have a load of content that ranks for a ton of irrelevant terms that do Nothing for the business!

Which means you're wasting resources
(at the least, time and effort, maybe money)

>>>
Jun 17 6 tweets 2 min read
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:: It's not about the AI ::

You will see the same sort of pattern whenever there is a mass ingestion of content,
and usually when it fails to get traction/acquire links,
often due to being low quality (inc. cookie-cutter/dupes)

>>>

#SEO #AIContent #LowQualityContent >>>

Typically, the sequence of events is:

1) New content is added
2) G discovers new content
3) G crawls new content
4) G indexes new content
5) G ranks the new content for X number of terms

>>>
May 11 9 tweets 3 min read
.
:: Google - using NLP and LLMs ::

So, G have invested Millions into advancing their algorithms, developing cutting edge approaches to parsing content and identifying important information.

But …

… rather than using it for "Ranking"
… they chose to steal Traffic.

#SEO >>>

And this isn't the first time Google have committed such an offence.

Every few years, they make changes to the SERPs,
to benefit "their users".

> Knowledge Panel
> Featured Snippets
> People Also Ask
> FAQs

Each such addition - reduces traffic ...

>>>
May 10 8 tweets 4 min read
We can always try asking
(again).

Hey, anyone at @googlesearchc, or maybe @JohnMu or @searchliaison ...

Does Google actually try to verify experience or expertise,
or is it based on linguistics/phrasing?

#SEO #EEAT My money is on it being linguistics/phrasing.

G simply cannot know if Bob bought the giant pink 18" floppy dragon pillow (yeah, some of you went there!), or is simply making it up.

(Note: they may be able to guess if Bob's full of shit though, due to 34K reviews in a week ;))
May 9 9 tweets 2 min read
1/🧵
:: SEO by looking at the Rankings ::

Yes / No / Maybe.

The problems here are:
1) Correlation
2) Shallow observation
3) Copy cats
4) Many factors are small/tiny, and don't show any visible impact at the top of the SERPs for high-volume/high-value terms

But ...
>>>

#SEO 2/?
>>>

The first 2 points go hand in hand.
Consider things like "long form content" and "word count".

Those are purely correlative - they are Not actual factors.

But, when you look, you see tons of top ranking pages about X have more than N words...

>>>
Feb 13 13 tweets 4 min read
1/🧵
🚨:: Does Google use Bounce Back Rate? ::🚨

*sigh*
It's not even 2 years since I last covered this!

🧵>>>

#SEO #BounceRate #BounceBackRate #BounceBackToSERP Image 2/?

Here's the thread I did at the end of 2021...



But if you don't want to read through that,
I'll do a quick summary here...

>>>
Jan 31 9 tweets 2 min read
.
:: Prioritisation ::

For me, it's an indication that the SEO sector has matured.

A substantial % of people aren't focused on:
* lists
* tool scores
* number of keywords
* vanity term rankings
or even
* what moves the SERP needle

>>>

#SEO >>>

Instead, there has been a significant shift to:
* what contributes to the businesses goal(s),
* what is readily achievable with the resources available,
* how to present needs/requirements to get them implemented,
* understanding of resource allocation

>>>
Jan 29 4 tweets 1 min read
.
I'm torn on this one.

I deeply value experience, and invested time in learning.

But, as someone that was once young,
and often frustrated at the stupidity I saw in various roles,
I know that "age" is the wrong proxy-metric.

>>> >>>

It's the inverse of "time served"
(another thing that always irritated me - the assumption that because someone has done the job for X years, they are good at it!).

Some people are smart, others sharp, others invested time/effort learning/research years ago.

>>>
Jan 29 4 tweets 2 min read
.
:: Test - but prioritise based on Experience! ::

I'm a fan of the "test everything" concept,
but the reality is - most of us don't, and in many cases, you can't.

It's also costly.

So, same as with everything else,
you should Prioritise!

#Marketing #SEO

>>> >>>

Though markets may differ,
industries respond differently,
audiences react in various ways ...
... there are "safer bets", and "more probable" performers.

We know this based on experience (and even prior tests).

So you go with those as your baseline!

>>>
Jan 27 4 tweets 2 min read
.
:: Remember - Yandex is not Google ::
:: Yandex code "leaked", inc. Search ::

1) No idea if real/legitimate
2) Yandex is Not Google

Via @PeterMindenhall

#SEO #Yandex
>>> >>>

Now the obvious caveats are covered...

I think this could be one of the best things to happen to the SEO Secto!

Ever!

Why?

Because it will show just how many moving parts there can be,
how tiny the influence is for many of them,
and how narrow/limited each can be.

>>>
Dec 19, 2022 21 tweets 7 min read
.
:: Hits of 2022 ::

Getting this in early,
and for those that have followed me for some time,
yes, there are marked differences between threads in 2022 and those of 2021.

It's been a year long set of little tests and comparisons.

Thank you for sticking with me!

#SEO First off ...

A quick look at elements that most pages should have.

Dec 13, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
1/?
::❗️ SEO isn't just about Conversions ❗️::

1) What is a "conversion"
2) There are other goals

Conversions aren't always Direct/Immediate!
They also may be action (signup) rather than transaction (payment).
Or they could transfer (online to store visit/call)

#SEO

>>> 2/?
>>>

Monetary transactions are not the only Goals!

As a channel, SEO can generate Awareness/Exposure, build Recognition/Trust,
and the content may be their for trust/perception/persuasion etc.,
rather than direct/immediate money.

>>>
Dec 11, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
.
:: Attribution - Grossly misunderstood ::
:: (And digital spoils us) ::

You can literally see who has experience/knowledge in actual marketing,
and those that have only every dealt with digital,
and not bothered to learn/research anything else :(

>>> >>>

TV, Radio, Print ... these didn't have "exact numbers".
And they sure as hell don't give insights into the number of exposures before conversion (if!).

And yet - they managed quite well for decades (and longer!), ...

>>>
Dec 6, 2022 18 tweets 6 min read
.

Okay ... mt kids are ill, I'm ill, I'm exhausted,
and I stumble over this pile of steaming shit?

Yeah - no fucking gloves, as I just don't have the mental capacity to constrain myself!

Ready?

>>> >>>

1) That is NOT a strategy.
That's a spun guide on how to create a strategy,
and as it's based on pre-existing SEO content,
it's shit.

Goals?
Objectives?
KPIs?

How does the SEO Channel fit in with the other channels?



>>>