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🔍 Debug markup faster | More attributions?

Good morning search marketers, looking to save some time? 

Google Search Console's testing tools gained two new features yesterday that should make debugging structured data faster. You can now search the code within your markup in the right-hand code pane in GSC. Then, you can copy the code and edit it. "This makes checking the rendered markup and experimenting with it quicker and easier," said Google.

Did Google start adding more attributions in knowledge panels following the Genius vs. Google vs. LyricFind finger pointing last week? It's not exactly clear. Pete Meyers of Moz said Friday, it looked like attributions were on the rise, but RankRanger told us Monday that it hasn't seen any change in what it calls "explore cards." Moz says it sees these kinds of panels with attribution, which Google first started showing in January 2018, for two to three percent of the search results it is tracking. In what may be another test, spotted by @Venkatramani, Google is showing a featured snippet with no attribution at all. 

In case you missed it, Google is testing text ad carousels on mobile. The test appears to be quite small at this point, but has been confirmed by Google. In the example seen — on a brand query — the ads in the carousel are quite small with two headlines and just one line of description which gets cut off. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. 

Lots more below, including our second installment of Ask The Editors, a Pro Tip on picking third-party automation tools and more. 

Ginny Marvin,
Editor-In-Chief

 
 
 
Pro Tip
 

How do you know the right third-party automation tool to pick?

"Most studies are either going to be biased and/or take into account nuances that may not apply to you when it comes to using any tool or even picking a rule or scripts," explains Duane Brown of Take Some Risk. "I always start with why am I doing this job and what am I hoping to get out of it. Then I look for tools that can help do the job and maintain the quality of work that we want. It's also ok to only automate 70% of your work and still have a few manual steps. Automation does not need to be 100%."

MORE FROM SMX ADVANCED »

 

The Future of Search: Capturing the Hearts and Minds of Generation Z

Sponsored by Adthena

The coming of age of Generation Z represents a landmark moment for advertising. This is the first generation who have grown up in a fully connected digital world. Read this report from Adthena to learn how advertisers are targeting Gen Z with ads that signal new trends in search.

Read More »

 
Ask the Editors
 

Your questions answered: Periodic Table of SEO Factors

Last week, we held a webinar on our 2019 Periodic Table of SEO Factors and weren't able to address all the questions. Search Engine Land editors Barry Schwartz and Detlef Johnson will be answering many of them here in the days ahead.

Does the quality of the pages in terms of how well-written it is have more weight than keywords? How does Google calculate the quality of a page based on the quality of the writing?

Keywords can be implicated as having more weight; however, natural language processing (NLP) is becoming increasingly important as advancements are made in computer analysis and classification of content. For example, if you have a page on topic X, how does your page match up with hundreds or thousands of documents similarly classified? If your page fits in the norm, then it may qualify for a ranking better than a page that purely has more instances of the keyword matching a query, but is far out on the statistical analysis. Each search engine has its own formula for classifying information. 

Quality is always more important than quantity — that's been the saying for a long time now in the SEO world for a reason. Stop being worried about the number of words on a page or the keyword density. Just try to answer the searcher in the most direct and clear way as possible on the page.

WATCH THE WEBINAR ON-DEMAND »

 
Search Shorts
 

Google delays

Google Search Console coverage report delay. The coverage report within Google Search Console is now 10-days behind schedule, which is unusual.

Google My Business delays. Google My Business has informed some local SEOs that there is a 2-3 week delay in responses from the team.

Google case study. There is a new case study on how Service Workers can improve Google search web experience.

 
What we're reading
 

We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader

4 Tips for Communicating with Clients at the Beginning of Their Paid Media Journey – Metric Theory

Don't Be Confused By Images In Featured Snippets & Google Search Console Rankings – Search Engine Roundtable

The Easiest PR-Focused Link Building Tip in the Book – Whiteboard Friday – Moz

What can Google Assistant do? The best commands and actions – WIRED UK

What is link building? – Yoast

Helping kids learn to evaluate what they see online – Google Blog

 
 
 
Join Us
 

Unlock actionable SEO & SEM tactics to accelerate your campaign's success. Attend SMX East in NYC!

Attend the only conference in the East Coast entirely devoted to search marketing: Search Engine Land's SMX East, November 13-14, 2019. Join us for a deep dive into SEO and SEM tactics, networking, and top amenities including WiFi, delicious meals, and snacks. You'll come away with at least one tactic that you can immediately put to use… we guarantee it. View rates and register today!