The Times They Are A-Changin

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you is worth savin'

And you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'

_____________________________

Never been much of a Bob Dylan fan myself.

But he’s right.

The Times They Are A-Changin.

Here’s a list of just the updates that have happened since 2022:

February 2024 Core and Spam Update (March 5, 2024)​, Reviews Update (November 8, 2023)​​, November 2023 Core Update (November 2, 2023)​​, October 2023 Core Update (October 5, 2023)​​, October 2023 Spam Update (October 4, 2023)​​, September 2023 Helpful Content Update (September 14, 2023)​​, August 2023 Core Update (August 22, 2023)​​, Reviews Update (April 12, 2023)​​, March 2023 Core Update (March 15, 2023)​​, Product Reviews Update (February 21, 2023)​​, Link Spam Update (December 14, 2022)​​, Helpful Content Update (December 5, 2022)​​, Spam Update (October 19, 2022)​​, Product Reviews Update (September 20, 2022)​​, September 2022 Core Update (September 12, 2022)​​, Helpful Content Update (August 25, 2022)​​, Product Reviews Update (July 27, 2022)​​, Google Core Update (May 25, 2022)​​, and last but not least, the Product Reviews Update (March 23, 2022)​​.

If you didn’t want to read through all of those — I don’t blame you.

I didn’t either, that’s why I asked ChatGPT to put them all in a comma separated list and give me the total number.

It’s 19 if you were wondering.

NINETEEN updates in the last 3 years — that’s a little over 6 each year.

Everyone is bitching about how much SEO has changed in the last few months.

Which I concede, it has changed a ton especially with the SGE rollout.

But it’s always changing, 6+ times a year to be specific.

I know most SEOs (myself included) aren’t a major fan of the recent updates, but the truth is that this is the game we decided to play.

And we can either complain or find a way to win.

Truth be told, I’m just happy that I don’t a niche site portfolio.

But everything in eCommerce is ripping; here’s a look at how some of my clients are doing:

The best part is that the strategies I used to grow these brands aren’t anything special.

Even better?

These are the same strategies I’ve been running with since 2022.

There have been 19 updates and I haven’t drastically changed any element of my eCommerce SEO approach.

They’re the exact same.

So many SEOs are way too focused on what Google is doing: ranking factors this, backlinks aren’t valuable that, etc.

I’ve muted most of the big, talking head SEO accounts on Twitter.

First, I find them extremely annoying.

Second, they’re a distraction.

But seriously, they are annoying.

So why would I devote even one second of attention to their content?

They don’t post case studies. They don’t offer advice. They just screenshot random SERPs & tag someone from Google.

Completely unhelpful.

The basics of search haven’t changed — no matter what anyone tells you.

Focus on the fundamentals and ignore the noise.

You’re better off this way.

Catch ya next time.

Kai