Schema updates, keyword research 101 and how Google is helping local publishers: What we read this week (5/8)
8. May 2020The News Dashboard team would like to take a moment to thank all of the essential workers who have kept all of us fed, healthy and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Words cannot express how much respect and admiration we have for you all.
Thank you!
Check out what we read this week.
What you need to know about schema updates
In case you’re new to the whole SEO thing, Schema.org is a collection of mark up vocabulary publishers can use to help search engines understand their content. For example: One particularly hot topic right now is live blogs. Well, you can check out how to format and markup your live blog here. The link below is Schema.org’s own release list. Check it out to stay on top of the latest changes.
Keyword research 101 by Moz
Keywords are the backbone of the Trisolute News Dashboard. So, having a strong foundation in keyword research could help take your keyword visibility from moderate to extraordinary (with the help of The News Dashboard, of course).
Recently, the team over at Moz published a Keyword Research Master Guide that gives a great overview of how to: choose related keywords, find keywords by search volume and develop a keyword-focused content strategy.
Removing URLs from Google Search
Removing URLs from Google can be tricky. Though news publishers rarely (if ever) un-publish stories, a webmaster may feel it’s worth removing landing pages, project pages or other non-news pages from Google to help focus SEO efforts.
The step-by-step guide from ahrefs.com includes a handy flowchart to help you get started.
Google publicly says it’s trying to help local publishers in the SERPs
On April 2, we reported that international publishers’ visibility for coronavirus-related keywords was dropping. On May 4, the Google Search Liaison Twitter account posted this thread:
Google Search has never seen as many searches for a single topic continue over a sustained period as is happening now with COVID-19. Many searches are for news about what’s happening in local areas, such as sheltering updates or the latest on testing. Here’s how we’re helping….
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) May 4, 2020
We’re sure any assistance local publishers can get now during the COVID-19 pandemic is welcome. Unfortunately, many local news outlets are in the midst of downsizing, driven by a slowdown in ad dollars.
YouTube could help boost news subscriptions
Let’s be clear: The News Dashboard isn’t a YouTube visibility tool, but our tool has show that YouTube visibility (via video carousels) has been increasing for months now. And YouTube is the second-largest search engine behind Google, making it an important piece to any SEO (and content) strategy.
Digiday reported this week that the ubiquitous video platform is developing a tool for news sites to sell subscriptions through their YouTube channels. The tool would be similar to the channel membership tool YouTube introduced in 2018.
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Read more
Video SEO, a YUGE data analysis and change to Google Search Console: What we read this week (5/1)
Google to pay in Australia, SERP shrugs and Question Hub: What we read this week (4/24)
Some help for newsrooms, Google may pay up and featured snippets: What we read this week (4/17)
A COVID-19 cornucopia, Google’s secrets and online reading patters: What we read this week (4/10)