I have 3 SEO trainings, just for marketers, to share with you before I jump into March articles and links about news and trends in the SEO industry.
- Free SEO Keyword Research Class on May 7th: “How to Target Keywords for Quicker SEO Traction” (more details and registration coming soon)
- Coming in June – “Launch Your First SEO Campaign in 30 Days.” This will be a small class limited to only 12-15 marketers. If you want first dibs on one of those seats, click here to be the first to know when registration opens up.
- SEO for Beginners – AMA training on April 28th. If you need a better grasp of SEO fundamentals, or know someone who does, check it out.
3 SEO Articles to Read in March 2021
- Unhappy with your 1-star review? Even it’s not from a customer? The courts don’t care.
- Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020
- How Long Does SEO Take to Work?
Unhappy with your 1-star review? Even it’s not from a customer? The courts don’t care.
(as originally reported in Search Engine Land)
A reviewer left a 1-star Google rating for a lawyer under a pseudonym. The lawyer said that, as he never had a client with that name, the review was obviously defamatory–potentially from a malicious competitor. And the court dismissed the claim. As we’ve all likely dealt with a frustrating review situation, the details are worth a read.
Why was the case dismissed? Here are some details:
- A one-star wordless review posted on Google Review is an expression of opinion protected by the First Amendment.
- The actual identity of the reviewer is moot to the defamation claim as “a one-star wordless review on Google review is an opinion, even if it violates Google’s policy.”
- Reviewers don’t always have to be clients directly. The review “could reflect any experience with plaintiffs, including their website, physical location, blogs, in-court interactions, or appearance.”
The verdict: Even if a review has been left under a pseudonym by a potentially malicious competitor, the reviewer can’t be sued for defamation. Reviews, in theory, could be left for any interaction with a business and don’t necessarily reflect solely business-client experience. But Google can still remove it for violating their terms of service.
Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020
According to Rand Fishkin of SparkToro, more people than ever – nearly 65% – search on a keyword and never even click on a website. This is known as “zero-click searches.” In 2019, zero-click searches in Google broke the 50% milestone, and that number is on the rise to closer to two-thirds of searches.
Scary.
You can read more about this increase here, or learn more about Zero Click Searches on my blog here.
How Long Does SEO take to Work?
Don’t you hate when an SEO answers an SEO question with “it depends”? Me too!
Do you think we LIKE saying that? NO. But here’s why we say it so often when it comes to the question, “How Long Does SEO Take,” and why it really does depend. (Don’t shoot the messenger.)
Article: searchenginejournal.com/seo-101/how-long-seo-takes/
Jenny Munn
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