🔍 Google tips its hand, The great voice app battle is near

Plus, tips for making internal links work for SEO and V-Day search metrics Feb 20, 2019 Good morning search marketers, it looks like you were right after all. Google has confirmed that queries tied to YMYL do indeed [give more weight to EAT factors](. SEOs have long thought this to be true, and it’s rare that Google confirms something about its algorithm. But with the fight against disinformation raging, the company decided to show its hand. The big takeaway? If ranking signals change based on sector, it means optimizations that work on one site may yield different results for a site tied to another industry. As for the coming voice search revolution, it’s gearing up to be a battle between Amazon and Google to see which can actually create a platform to discover the expanding universe of skills and actions. Google only has 4,200 to tame, while there are over 60,000 Alexa skills [with no great way to find them](. And for technical SEOs considering a change, check out our recent report on digital agencies. More than half of respondents said these [advanced skills are among the most in demand](. There’s more below, including a Pro Tip on internal links, V-Day search metrics and some insights into how Mueller will host his hangouts without, well … Hangouts. Henry Powderly, VP, Content Pro Tip Make internal links work for you A lot of businesses stumble using internal links. They don’t earn link equity like external links do, but they’re essential for directing traffic to pages that traditionally attract fewer links or could use a much-needed boost in SERPs. “The better you understand what you want your link equity to do for your business, the better you’ll be able to use an internal linking structure to achieve your goals,” explains Aleh Barysevich from SEO PowerSuite. [READ MORE »]( Live Webinar: How to Prepare for a Successful Marketing Analytics Implementation- Feb. 26 Sponsored by CardinalPath Analytics are critical to fuel the success of your marketing investments. Whether you are taking a hard look at your current deployment, or a new deployment is in the works, this non-technical webinar highlights the 5 most common issues that can prevent you from realizing value from your analytics implementation. Join us to discuss best practices that will pay dividends in the long run. [READ MORE »]( Reading List Today’s theme: Fraggles and Bing rankings [Context Clusters in Search Query Suggestions]( – SEO By The Sea [SEO Basics: The Ultimate 2019 Guide to Mastering the Essentials of SEO]( – Raven Blog [What the Heck are Fraggles? Mobile-First Indexing Enables New SERPs]( – MobileMoxie Blog [Bing Algorithm & Ranking Update? Bing Says Nothing Out Of The Ordinary.]( – Search Engine Roundtable [Do Links From Pages With Traffic Help You Rank Higher? [Ahrefs Study]]( – Ahrefs [Get the scoop on Hollywood’s big night with help from Google]( – Google Blog [Google details how it fights ‘fake news’ in Search – YouTube]( – 9to5Google [Google Dominates US Paid Search – Can It Be Toppled?]( – Merkle Search Shorts WordPress moves beyond 5.0 and local SEOs demand change Where do we go now? Many of you know that Google hosts live office hour hangouts on YouTube for webmasters to ask questions related to search. With Google+ going away, Google’s John Mueller is testing using the YouTube community to submit questions. Here are [more details]( on how to participate. 5.1 is coming. WordPress is expected to release an update to their popular CMS platform this week. The folks over at Yoast have [published more details]( on what to expect. What a hassle. Many local businesses and local SEOs are fed up with how Google handles Google local edits from their searchers. [Many are saying]( that competitors are using these tools to essentially delist their competition from the Google local results and they want Google to make some changes. Calling Googlebot. John Mueller from Google said on [Twitter]( that the fastest way to see if Google can access your site is to use the [mobile-friendly testing tool](. Indicators Search marketers bet on V-Day According to figures from NetElixir customer data, shopping online was hot this Valentine’s Day — and the competition amongst search marketers, who spend almost a quarter more than last year. The firm found average CPCs up by 8.87 percent compared to last year, and average order value up 2.9 percent. Join Us Gain expert SEO & SEM tactics to drive your campaign's success. Attend SMX Advanced, June 3-5! Attend Search Engine Land’s [SMX Advanced](, June 3-5, 2019 for expert-led sessions, networking (including the 2019 Search Engine Land Awards), and top amenities including WiFi, delicious meals, and snacks. 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