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This is an SEO/SEM blog, we get some of our traffic from people doing SEO/SEM related queries in Google Search. But some SEOs are claiming that Google is sending more of those searchers to google.com sites, like the Google blogs, than SEO or SEM blogs.
Cyrus Shepard shared this chart on Twitter the other day:
One of these things is not like the other pic.twitter.com/Ayxk3yeUiI
— Cyrus (@CyrusShepard) July 28, 2021
Patrick Stox jumped in to critique the charts:
I get you. Thanks pointing that out!
— Cyrus (@CyrusShepard) July 29, 2021
The general trend/position still looks significantly up though, right? (if I am reading this right)
Oh I don't think there's anything intentionally nefarious. Other than they never seem to lose and thier sheer participation raises both ethical and legal considerations.
— Cyrus (@CyrusShepard) July 29, 2021
I do believe a lot of SEO blogs are getting less and less traffic over the years, specific to SEO related queries. But Google has been working harder on their own content, content that us SEO blogs are linking to.
John Mueller from Google pointed out his thoughts:
Also, suggesting ethical & legal concerns when it comes to the official documentation -- really?! That seems absurd to me. I see more people complaining that they can't find the official docs and have to make do with SEO bloggers instead.
— 🍌 John 🍌 (@JohnMu) July 30, 2021
Cyrus again:
Anyway, the official docs are great! They should be found.
— Cyrus (@CyrusShepard) July 30, 2021
Is the top of organic results the right place for any Google-owned property? I don't know the answers to all these questions, but would love to discuss it further.
I obviously run an SEO blog or two but I honestly have no real opinion on this because I've been through many ups and downs with traffic here. And thankfully, this blog does not pay my bills - I have other revenue sources. That being said, I wanted to share the concerns above and the counterclaims.
There is a lot of SEO chatter in the Twitter thread if you want to skim through it.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
