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Ross Dunn
Hello and welcome to SEO 101 on WMR FM episode number 497. This is Ross Dunn, CEO of Stepforth Web Marketing and I'm running solo today as my co host Scott is away on a holiday to the lovely Hawaiian Islands.
Scott
Lucky bomb. All right, so let's just jump right in a well, we're all we talked about it recently that there's been a core update, yet another one in March. It started on March 13 and it.
Ross Dunn
Should be just about done.
Scott
Rolling out according to Barry Schwartz. Now, many website owners and other SEOs have noticed significant shifts in their site.
Ross Dunn
Rankings since the update began. In fact, there was even some volatility before the announcement.
Scott
But Google has confirmed that that pre update turbulence was unrelated. Really, this is nothing new, but I.
Ross Dunn
Wanted to give you a few reminders of what you should do when this.
Scott
Happens and if you see some up.
Ross Dunn
And down in your own ranking and.
Scott
What you should do.
Ross Dunn
So first, monitor it closely. Keep an eye on your site's analytics to understand how the update is impacting.
Scott
Your traffic and rankings.
Ross Dunn
Next, focus on quality.
Scott
I mean, you just gotta push past this as all things, all these things are happening. This is something you can't immediately impact. So you just need to work with it.
Ross Dunn
So ensure your content's valuable, well researched.
Scott
Aligns with your audience, and if you.
Ross Dunn
Find some content that looks outdated but.
Scott
You'Re getting a lot of traffic to it, refresh it. It's just a given that that will help your website and frankly just help.
Ross Dunn
The experience of your users, which is always foremost, should be foremost on your mind.
Scott
If you keep your visitors happy, search engines will be happy in many cases. Next, stay informed.
Ross Dunn
This podcast will help, of course, but.
Scott
Google's guidelines and best practices, they get updated occasionally and they can offer some.
Ross Dunn
Insights into maintaining and improving your site's performance.
Scott
They don't always turn out to be all that helpful. You should just say write better. But you know what? It's still worth paying attention to them.
Ross Dunn
Because once in a while you get.
Scott
A nugget that you really can act upon.
Ross Dunn
All right, so there was a Google Search Central.
Scott
Live, live, actually in person. What the heck? In New York City and at this event, Denny Sullivan, our old leader, one.
Ross Dunn
Of the leaders of our industry, the SEO is, who's now the Google Search liaison.
Scott
He crossed the line, became part of the problem. No, no, he's good, he's helpful. I mean, he has to toe the line, but it is always nice to have someone who understands our industry who's working for Google anyway.
Ross Dunn
He shared that while the mechanisms for generating AI overview search results differ from traditional methods, the fundamental principles of SEO.
Scott
Remain applicable and important. That's kind of the nutshell, but he.
Ross Dunn
Also introduced two concepts to help better.
Scott
Explain AI overview search results.
Ross Dunn
Predictive summaries and grounding links. Predictive summaries aim to answer user queries. I'm going to read this off.
Scott
I got AI to write this for me here.
Ross Dunn
By predicting related variations the user might be interested in seeing, utilizing a concept called information gain.
Scott
In other words, they are not only.
Ross Dunn
Trying to answer the question being asked, but what the reader is most likely.
Scott
To ask after reading the answer.
Ross Dunn
This is why it's possible to see a referred link in the AI overviews that isn't from the top 10 results.
Scott
Below, because that can get really confusing. Even Danny brought that up and he said, look, people who go to search results kind of expect that one of.
Ross Dunn
The top 10 were going to show.
Scott
Up at top as one of the cited results. But it isn't that case. Often it's a completely different one again because Google's trying to anticipate what you're.
Ross Dunn
Going to search after as well. Grounding links are what you see in.
Scott
The search or in the AI overview. Those are typical little paper clips that link you to more results that have fed that information.
Ross Dunn
Grounding links are used in AR overviews to anchor summaries.
Scott
This is how they put it to.
Ross Dunn
Verifiable information, making links appear more contextual and varied than traditional organic search results.
Scott
Now why is this important? Because obviously those are links to their sources.
Ross Dunn
Well the sources are awfully are often also different than the top 10 because again Google's trying to predict and they.
Scott
They are grabbing information from other places that helped inform their search result. There's some interesting analogies that are used.
Ross Dunn
In this particular article at Search Engine.
Scott
Journal, so do go check it out.
Ross Dunn
The title is Insights from Google search.
Scott
Central Live NYC 2025. All in all, Danny Sullivan advises against.
Ross Dunn
Trying to simultaneously optimize for both organic search and AI overview results, as this.
Scott
May lead to complications. He also suggested not to try to.
Ross Dunn
Optimize for Google's AI mode since it is still in labs and will likely change significantly.
Scott
Anything in labs is roll the dice man. I you know, if you're really cutting edge and you want to play go nuts. But do not expect whatever you're going to work is going to have any lasting impact on anything in labs. If you get in there and you you you feel like you figured it out, it'll probably change tomorrow on you. You're still going to be better for.
Ross Dunn
It if you have the time because you're going to learn a lot.
Scott
But yeah, if you're a busy company busy SEO like we SEO company like we are, it's like no, you just.
Ross Dunn
Wait for things to settle and then figure things out.
Scott
And also depending on your industry you don't or your your market, you don't have to be on the cutting edge.
Ross Dunn
Most enterprise level businesses are huge like.
Scott
Fortune 500s they need to be and they have the staff for that.
Ross Dunn
They have research people that just research.
Scott
And test like this. In our case we don't need that because we're working with small medium businesses who can wait for things to settle because most changes don't happen overnight that are going to impact search results that dramatically because if they did, Google would lose money. They don't want to mess things up that much. It's not always the case, but most of the time. All right, so how are we going to adapt to SEO strategies in 2025?
Ross Dunn
And this is more of a post for fellow SEOs.
Scott
It's from John Mueller. It's actually sourced from. This is a search engine journal article, but it's sourced from a post that John put out. I believe it was on Twitter X whatever you want to call it. Anyway, as the digital landscape evolves, it's.
Ross Dunn
Crucial for SEO to professionals to align their strategies with current business needs. John Mueller emphasized this importance of adapting to changes in web development and user experience to stay relevant.
Scott
Just in a nutshell, developers have likely.
Ross Dunn
Changed a lot of their perception of.
Scott
What'S important for.
Ross Dunn
Ensuring your site's going to succeed for users and search engines, mainly users.
Scott
Now, how does that impact you?
Ross Dunn
Well, as an SEO, if you're a.
Scott
Fellow SEO, you're going to have to start focusing on things like more so on mobile performance skills, how to work with AI tools, understanding responsive design and.
Ross Dunn
The knowledge of client side functionality frameworks.
Scott
And how they affect SEO. Lastly, and most importantly, I think prompt engineering, because everything about AI right now is about your prompt, right?
Ross Dunn
And engineering that, making it better every.
Scott
Time you use it and taking note of it. That's.
Ross Dunn
That's my biggest problem.
Scott
Like, oh right, I forgot to write that down is incredibly important.
Ross Dunn
Prompts drive the result.
Scott
Anyway, that's. It's big stuff. This is actually a little list that Matt Southern, the author, extrapolated based on.
Ross Dunn
The information that John provided and a.
Scott
Few bit of his experience as well. That was a good list. So in other words, quote unquote, step.
Ross Dunn
Outside server level optimizations and focus on client side rendering and user experience elements. All right, let's take a quick break and we come back.
Scott
We're going to talk a bit about top SEO shares. Actually, pardon me, we're going to talk.
Ross Dunn
About some great tips from Jono Alderson.
Scott
As a top SEO who shares some great ideas.
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Scott
That's reputationdefender.com success101 on WMR FM hosted.
Ross Dunn
By myself Ross Dunn, CEO of Stepforth Web Marketing.
Scott
Okay, so again the title here is.
Ross Dunn
Top SEO Shares how to Win in the Era of Google AI and this is a Search Engine Journal article. Lots from Search Engine Journal this time around. Some good stuff.
Scott
This week. Always have good stuff, but this was particularly good.
Ross Dunn
Jono Alderson he's the former head of.
Scott
SEO at Yoast and now works at Meta, which I was shocked to hear. But good for him, I guess.
Ross Dunn
Provides some insights on the changes in content marketing. On the Majestic podcast recently.
Scott
He gave a lot of great advice. I'm going to try and boil it down a bit here to start with. Kind of like a tldr, he feels.
Ross Dunn
AI content should be avoided since Google AI can provide precise and complex answers.
Scott
On its own without relying on superficial content. So what does this mean?
Ross Dunn
You need to publish meaningful, insightful content that Google and AI can't create.
Scott
Hmm.
Ross Dunn
He also suggests SEOs reimagine how success is defined.
Scott
It's less about clicks and more about.
Ross Dunn
Building a relationship with the audience before.
Scott
They even think about making a purchase.
Ross Dunn
It means influencing potential customers early in their journey.
Scott
In essence, Jono's advocating for a return to the roots of marketing, creating content.
Ross Dunn
That connects and resonates on a deeper.
Scott
Level, prioritizing quality over quantity to truly stand out in today's landscape. All right, makes sense, right? It's not a big departure from what we've been hearing lately.
Ross Dunn
However, it was interesting that he said.
Scott
Stay away from AI content. I don't agree with that, but it is. I partially do. I would say that the majority of the ways that AI content is created these days, I would agree with him. However, taking a step back to what I was mentioning earlier about prompt engineering, creating great content can be done, let's say mostly great, because it won't be as good as you writing yourself and.
Ross Dunn
Putting all your heart and soul into.
Scott
It as an expert. Grant you that if you're a good writer. But if you use prompt engineering and put in points that are meaningful and.
Ross Dunn
Insightful and tell the AI to include.
Scott
These, and then take the resulting written article by AI and massage it yourself and make it into something that is truly yours. You have saved a lot of time.
Ross Dunn
You have used AI to create something.
Scott
Great, and I see that as being.
Ross Dunn
Beneficial and likely to rank and likely to make a difference on your website and your overall business.
Scott
I don't think Jono would disagree. He might feel that that's and I, you know, taking the devil's advocate approach.
Ross Dunn
He might feel that that is something.
Scott
That you could have done just by writing it yourself, but that's only if you've been writing a lot.
Ross Dunn
I find getting back into writing again.
Scott
Very difficult if I haven't been writing every day. So AI is a great Way to get things moving, grease the wheels a bit and create something that I can then truly make mine. So that's my, my, my take on that. All right, so another article was called.
Ross Dunn
Selling on Marketplaces versus your own website.
Scott
And I believe it was that wrote this. It's just going to see here Kevin Gibbons. He's an E commerce SEO and he.
Ross Dunn
Said that a common dilemma for online sellers is choosing between using marketplaces like Amazon versus running their own e commerce site.
Scott
And what he said is pretty much balances with what we've, what we say to our clients. In most cases, he says, marketplaces are pretty much the best way to start.
Ross Dunn
Offer immediate access. It offers immediate access to a large.
Scott
Customer base, but it does come with.
Ross Dunn
Fees and less control for branding.
Scott
So there's always pros and cons, right? If you own your own website, the.
Ross Dunn
Pro is that it provides full control over branding and customer relationships.
Scott
But it requires a lot of effort.
Ross Dunn
In driving traffic and maintaining the site.
Scott
And I would add that expand upon driving the traffic is when you have your own website. You have to begin that flow of.
Ross Dunn
Traffic, which is exceedingly difficult at the.
Scott
Beginning because Google and whatever other search engines you're working with, they don't trust you yet. There's just no reason for them to trust you yet.
Ross Dunn
And you have to build authority and.
Scott
All these different things. And in that, in the meantime, it's going to be very difficult to keep the business afloat unless you've got some seed money or you're perhaps doing it on the side. So a balanced approach is what he suggests.
Ross Dunn
Start on micro marketplace to help build initial sales and brand recognition.
Scott
This is actually very similar to what we say about anyone with a website that we're starting with is use paid ads to help build the initial sales while we're doing the SEO, because that does take time anyway.
Ross Dunn
He says over time, directing that traffic to your own website can lead to better profit margins and stronger customer loyalty.
Scott
Now, staying updated with these developments is.
Ross Dunn
Essential to navigating our SEO landscape. By focusing on quality content, adapting to.
Scott
New technologies and exploring diverse strategies, you.
Ross Dunn
Can enhance your online presence and achieve sustained success.
Scott
Makes good sense. And it is a question that we get asked. So if you're out there and you're thinking about starting your own e commerce site, I think ideally you would do both. But most of us, when we're starting a business, don't have that much time or money or even the ability to organize all of that. So start off in a marketplace, get.
Ross Dunn
That income, then go and build your.
Scott
Own website while you're still managing the.
Ross Dunn
Marketplace and do a nice transition.
Scott
You may even find like it's just like pay per click and so paid ads and SEO. You know, there's a time where you.
Ross Dunn
Could probably shut off your paid ads and just do SEO.
Scott
But why bother if your paid ads are giving you business, your SEO is giving you business. And the paid ads, I guess going.
Ross Dunn
Back to that, the paid ads are.
Scott
Actually converting at a higher, a high enough level that you're making money no.
Ross Dunn
Matter what you spend.
Scott
Well, why not just keep it? And that's what most of our clients do. And just. Well, it's just logical, right? Makes good sense. All right, some AI news.
Ross Dunn
Google expands AI overviews to more EU.
Scott
Regions Good news for the European Union.
Ross Dunn
They first launched in the US of course, AI overviews, and then expanded to over a hundred new countries last year.
Scott
And to my surprise, they're only now.
Ross Dunn
Officially live in these regions.
Scott
Now, I will get a little more on this, but I think it's perhaps just the language that's live, because I would expect that they would have been live before, but I don't know. Anyway. Germany, which has German and English.
Ross Dunn
Belgium, which includes English only at launch. Ireland, English, Italy, Italian and English.
Scott
Austria, which includes German and English.
Ross Dunn
Poland, Polish and English.
Scott
Portugal, Portuguese and English, Spain, Spanish and English. And for Switzerland, lastly, English, French, German and Italian. It's kind of weird, isn't it? I don't know why, but I always think of Switzerland because John Mueller, I.
Ross Dunn
Think even Martin Split, they're all in.
Scott
Switzerland at their Google headquarters there. Must be a little weird to wait this long to see AI overviews launched.
Ross Dunn
In their own country.
Scott
I never considered that before until I saw this. And I guess everyone has to wait unless you're in the States.
Ross Dunn
Well, on behalf of myself, Ross Dunn.
Scott
CEO of Stepforth Web Marketing, thank you for joining me today.
Ross Dunn
Remember, we have shownit's newsletter you can.
Scott
Sign up for at seo101radio.com have a great week and remember to tune into future episodes, which air every week on WMR fm.
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SEO 101 Episode 497: Adapting SEO for 2025 and Optimizing for AI Overviews
Hosted by Ross Dunn, CEO of Stepforth Web Marketing
Release Date: April 2, 2025
In Episode 497 of SEO 101, hosted solo by Ross Dunn due to Scott Van Achte's holiday absence, the episode delves into the evolving landscape of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as we approach 2025. The discussion primarily focuses on adapting SEO strategies in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and understanding Google's latest updates affecting search results.
Timestamp: [02:10] - [08:08]
Ross opens the episode by addressing the recent Google core update rolled out on March 13, 2025. Scott Van Achte shares insights, noting that many website owners have observed significant ranking fluctuations since the update's inception.
Monitoring and Adaptation:
"[03:09] Scott: Your traffic and rankings."
"[03:24] Ross Dunn: So ensure your content's valuable, well researched."
Staying Informed:
"[04:06] Scott: They don't always turn out to be all that helpful. You should just say write better."
Industry Insights:
"[05:04] Scott: Remain applicable and important."
Timestamp: [04:25] - [22:54]
The conversation transitions to AI overviews in search results, a significant shift in how Google presents information.
AI Overview Mechanics:
"[05:04] Scott: Remain applicable and important."
"[05:15] Ross Dunn: Predictive summaries aim to answer user queries."
"[06:29] Ross Dunn: Grounding links are used in AI overviews to anchor summaries."
Adapting to AI-Driven Search:
"[09:24] Ross Dunn: Crucial for SEO to professionals to align their strategies with current business needs."
Prompt Engineering:
"[10:26] Ross Dunn: And engineering that, making it better every."
"[10:42] Scott: Anyway, that's. It's big stuff."
Timestamp: [14:16] - [17:38]
Drawing from contributions by Jono Alderson, former head of SEO at Yoast and current Meta professional, the hosts discuss advanced content marketing strategies.
AI vs. Human-Created Content:
"[15:06] Ross Dunn: AI content should be avoided since Google AI can provide precise and complex answers."
"[16:57] Scott: And then take the resulting written article by AI and massage it yourself and make it into something that is truly yours."
Redefining Success Metrics:
"[15:27] Scott: In essence, Jono's advocating for a return to the roots of marketing."
Timestamp: [17:59] - [20:55]
The hosts explore the strategic decision between utilizing established marketplaces like Amazon versus developing proprietary e-commerce websites.
Advantages of Marketplaces:
"[18:04] Scott: Offer immediate access to a large."
Pros of Owning a Website:
"[18:46] Ross Dunn: Pro is that it provides full control over branding and customer relationships."
Balanced Approach:
"[19:33] Ross Dunn: Start on micro marketplace to help build initial sales and brand recognition."
"[20:45] Scott: You may even find like it's just like pay per click and so paid ads and SEO."
Timestamp: [20:55] - [22:54]
Ross shares updates on AI overviews expanding to more regions within the European Union, enhancing the global applicability of AI-driven search results.
Regional Expansions:
"[21:21] Ross Dunn: Google expands AI overviews to more EU Regions."
Speculations and Observations:
"[22:12] Scott: It's kind of weird, isn't it?"
Ross wraps up the episode by reiterating the importance of adapting SEO strategies to incorporate AI advancements and maintain quality content standards. He encourages listeners to stay informed and proactive in implementing the discussed strategies to ensure sustained online success.
"[20:16] Scott: Makes good sense. And it is a question that we get asked."
Listeners are reminded to subscribe to the podcast’s newsletter for ongoing updates and to tune into future episodes airing weekly on WMR.FM.
Ross Dunn
"[03:09] Scott: Your traffic and rankings."
"[05:15] Ross Dunn: Predictive summaries aim to answer user queries."
"[10:42] Scott: Anyway, that's. It's big stuff."
Scott Van Achte
"[03:24] Ross Dunn: So ensure your content's valuable, well researched."
"[15:06] Ross Dunn: AI content should be avoided since Google AI can provide precise and complex answers."
"[16:57] Scott: And then take the resulting written article by AI and massage it yourself and make it into something that is truly yours."
By embracing these insights, SEO professionals and business owners can strategically position themselves to thrive in the dynamic digital landscape of 2025.