The most interesting Yandex leak takeaway for me

I didn't pay much attention to the Yandex leak media blitz when it happened. I figured I'd let the SEOs geek out over it then write their findings in a way a grade fiver could read it. Now that the dust has settled, that's exactly what's happened. I read about three articles setting out the findings. I guess there were not a whole lot of surprises except for one (for me). It's not really a surprise but it sheds more light on how Google possibly treats this "SEO tip". --------------------------------------------------------------- -TODAY'S PROMOTION- FREE EVENT: The SEO Reborn Summit ​[Join this online event]( to learn from 14 SEO experts their secrets of leveraging A.I. for SEO. Timely topics: - AI content generation - Training your own AI to unleash its potential - AI in the SEO agency context - AI and local SEO The lineup of speakers is impressive. See them [here](. => [Click here to learn more (it's free)](​ -END PROMOTION- DISCLAIMER: The links promoting this summit are affiliate links. It's a free event but recordings may be sold down the road hence I used an affiliate link. --------------------------------------------------------------- Just so I'm clear, I don't optimize for Yandex. Until the leak, I didn't know Yandex existing; kinda like how I didn't know Bing existed until all the ChatGPT hullabaloo. The big deal about the leak is many suspect that Google's algo is similar. I don't think that's a stretch at all. What's my favorite takeaway? That Yandex takes into account non-search traffic when ranking sites. I've long suspected search engines did that. It makes sense but it's doubly interesting to see that it is indeed a ranking factor for Yandex. That does NOT mean it's a Google ranking factor. We can't assume Google's algo is identical. We can only infer. The other significant factor to keep in mind here is how much of a ranking factor is it. Probably not significant, but I don't know. It's one of many. I doubt it's not close to how much weight inbound links have for ranking. Why do I find this particular ranking factor so interesting? It's simple. It's one factor I have control over. Moreover, short of blasting bot and bad traffic to my sites, it's something I can do with exuberant gusto that won't hurt my sites. In fact, it'll help. ​[The SEJ article]( I read suggests paid traffic helps. That's interesting. I certainly wouldn't run paid traffic at a loss but if breaking even could be worth it. Something important to keep in mind here I assume that quality traffic is key. Don't go buy some lousy 100K visitor junk traffic package for $5 thinking this will help your SEO. Also, there is no guarantee that diversifying your traffic will help rankings. Just because you get traffic from multiple sources does NOT mean you will rank higher. It's one of many factors. What implications does this have for me? It reinforces my efforts to diversify traffic even if those other sources are not as plentiful. In other words, if I can get 5% more traffic from another source, while that might not do much to overall revenue and is likely a hassle, there are benefits beyond the direct revenue. The potential collateral benefit is better rankings. What am I doing about it? I've long pursued multiple traffic sources for my main site. Mainly Facebook, Pinterest (resuming after long hiatus) and email. I'm hit and miss with email. Some weeks I'm consistent. Other weeks I don't do it. Yeah, this is a cardinal sin of email newsletters. Consistency is key. Big fail for me there but I am now trying to be more consistent. What this Yandex leak motivates me to do is double down on more Facebook, Pinterest and email traffic. I'm even posting to IG and Twitter once a day as well. I've actually grown my IG follower account but engagement isn't great. I'll be more diligent sending more emails to my niche audiences even if it's not generating all the direct revenue I would like. Am I acting on any other Yandex ranking factors? The only additional action I'm taking is some HARO campaigns for my new local business website. Not a big campaign; just something to get the wheels spinning. I would have done this anyway so it's not really acting on the leak. Thanks for reading. Jon Fatstacksblog.com [Unsubscribe]( | [Update your profile]( | 2016 Hill Drive, North Vancouver, British Columbia V7H 2N5