FourFront reposted this
Most of you in my network are not working in SEO, but this news may be worth a quick read: A recent leak of Google Search algorithm details gave the SEO industry unprecedented insight into how the code that powers Google actually works. It's being called the #GoogleLeak. Our team at FourFront has been learning as much as we can to inform the SEO side of the business. We have a few new ways of looking at things, new vocabulary to help discuss things (NavBoost, Twiddlers, etc.). And there are several new (small) things we could test to see what makes the biggest difference in driving visibility and business for our clients. There's also been a big shakeup in the relationship between SEOs and Google spokespeople because the leak has debunked many previous statements from the company. Ultimately though, our team's core tactics are unlikely to change drastically since most of the details from the leak so far prove what we already knew or assumed based on experience. The top takeaway is the importance of #UserExperience -- we now know with much more certainty how Google measures "post click" behavior after clicking a Google result, including that they measure if you come back to Google or not, the time it takes, etc. We also had assumed and now know that they use Chrome data to inform their understanding of user flow on a site. And all of these things impact which websites are ranked and how they show up in search results. For a long time, we have known that successful SEO relies on creating strong content that meets user requirements and provides a strong user experience. The #GoogleLeaks serve to emphasize this. Hopefully as time goes on there will be more and more overlap between SEO and UX in the web work. #seoandux
User Experience Designer - Graduate Assistant at Thomas Jefferson University with expertise in UX & UI Designer
2moI totally agree, and thanks for sharing these amazing insights! It's fascinating to see how the leaked documents confirm many long debated aspects of SEO. Google's use of metrics like "Domain Authority" and "NavBoost" based on user click data ultimately highlights the importance of user engagement and good UX in SEO efforts.