Search Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of Google Search and its inner workings! In each episode, the folks from the Search Relations team will give you background info on the decision-making behind launches, feature prioritization in Search Console, and the projects Google Search teams are working on. They will share fun stories from the many conferences they attend as well as from their day-to-day working life at Google. They will also dive into the currently trending conversations in the SEO community at large. Have a listen!
#334 – March Core Update Analysis with Lily Ray
As we come to the end of the March 2024 Core update, many things have changed in the Google landscape, and it’s time to start looking at where we landed.
To help navigate these changes, we wanted to bring a guest that’s out in the trenches every day – prominent and very opinionated character in the industry, Lily Ray 🔥
She hares a ton of interesting insights about SEO on social media, including a lot of original research.
In this episode, Lily and Gael get straight to it and cover many of the hottest topics in search right now, including:
👉 the visibility changes of pure content sites and how your business model may affect your visibility
👉 Reddit and Quora monopolizing search results and how long it may last
👉 HCU, and the divergence between Google’s guidelines and what we observe
👉 signals outside of the“traditional” that Google is giving a lot of importance to these days
We also take a look at specific examples – and they often break the rules – so don’t miss out on this one.
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Host: Gael Breton
Guest: Lily Ray
Full show notes:
https://www.authorityhacker.com/334-march-core-update-analysis-lily-ray/
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A special thanks to our sponsors for this episode, the all-in-one SEO tool set, Ahrefs:
https://www.authorityhacker.com/recommends/ahrefs/
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Looking for 100s of more episodes like these? Check out our main YouTube channel: https://www.authorityhacker.com/podcast/
Or visit our podcast page: https://www.authorityhacker.com/podcast/
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More about Lily Ray
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilyraynyc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-ray-44755615/
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What is a web crawler, really?
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Gary Illyes and Lizzi Sassman take a deep dive into crawling the web: what is a web crawler, and how does it really work? Listen along as the Search team is joined by an expert web developer in the SEO community, Dave Smart, for an in-depth and technical discussion of all things crawling, and maybe dispel some myths along the way.
Resources:
Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr070-transcript
Managing your crawl budget → https://goo.gle/3IzRZxl
Dave Smart on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3wPSuRA
Tame the Bots → https://goo.gle/4cfCQ1P
Search Central Help Forum → https://goo.gle/sc-forum
Indexing API docs → https://goo.gle/3v8yVU0
Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
#SOTRpodcast
Speaker: Gary Illyes, Lizzi Sassman
Products Mentioned: Search Off The Record
5 AI Agents that can make you $1k/Day
Want more AI tips & tricks for marketers & business owners? https://www.authorityhacker.com/subsc…
Think AI is just for simple tasks?
Imagine going from zero to $1,000 per day by creating AI agents that deliver high-value services like expert-level email newsletters, content marketing, or even SEO, with clients paying $5-10k/month.
But how do you actually build these agents without being a tech wizard?
In this episode, we break down exactly how to build MCP-enabled AI agents.
This new method gives AI superpowers, allowing it to browse the web, scrape social media, and perform complex tasks just like a professional would, enabling you to offer incredibly valuable services or automate them in your own business.
We reveal step-by-step techniques rarely shown elsewhere, including:
👉 High-Ticket Email Newsletters: Automate engaging, revenue-driving newsletters (using TypingMind, Perplexity, Firecrawl & Claude).
👉 Social Media Analysis: Scrape and analyze top-performing content (e.g., Twitter with Appify) to develop winning strategies.
👉 Content Idea Generation: Uncover viral topics by scraping Reddit and YouTube comments.
👉 Full YouTube Scriptwriting: Create detailed video scripts by extracting and analyzing transcripts from top videos.
👉 Advanced SEO Reporting: Integrate Google Search Console for automated analysis and competitor insights.
👉 MCP Server Integration: Learn to connect powerful tools (Appify, Perplexity, GSC) to your AI agents.
👉 Effective Agent Prompting: Craft system prompts that guide AI through complex, multi-step research and creation.
👉 Model Selection for Agents: Choose the right AI model (e.g., Claude, GPT-4.1) for specific agent tasks.
👉 Go beyond basic AI and learn how to build sophisticated AI agents that automate high-value services, conduct in-depth research, analyze data from multiple sources, and create compelling content, even if you're not a "tech wizard."
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A special thanks to our sponsors for this episode, Surfer SEO. Optimize your content for higher rankings and get more organic traffic (Check them out here): https://surferseo.com/
Plus thanks Thrivecart, the best shopping cart for digital sellers (we've used them for 7+. years) Check their new PRO out at https://thrivecart.com/
—
► Grab our FREE list of 45+ under-the-radar tools that will boost your business:
Launching Search Central Live Deep Dive
Search Off the Record takes you behind the scenes of Google Search and its inner workings! In each episode, the folks from the Search Relations team will give you background info on the decision-making behind launches, feature prioritization in Search Console, and the projects Google Search teams are working on. They will share fun stories from the many conferences they attend as well as from their day-to-day working life at Google. They will also dive into the currently trending conversations in the SEO community at large. Have a listen!
GPT-4o Just Replaced Your Designers (For Free)
ChatGPT just unleashed groundbreaking image generation, changing the game for visual content overnight. In this episode, we dive deep into this powerful new feature, moving beyond the memes to uncover its real business potential. We reveal 4 specific techniques—rarely discussed elsewhere—that unlock vastly superior results compared to basic text prompts, including how to leverage sketching and reverse-engineer winning styles.
From instantly creating scroll-stopping thumbnails and scalable ad creatives (even realistic UGC!) to generating unique marketing graphics that bypass expensive designers, we share exactly how businesses can implement this tool today. We also explore the current limitations, the potential disruption to designers and platforms like Midjourney, and how this technology levels the playing field for creators everywhere.
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A special thanks to our sponsors for this episode, Originality.ai and their new content optimizer
https://originality.ai/content-optimizer
Plus thanks for Bento, our new favorite email tool. Check them out at https://bentonow.com
____________________________________________
Looking for 100s of more episodes like these?
Check out our main YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AuthorityHackerPodcast
Or visit our podcast page: https://www.authorityhacker.com/podcast/
____________________________________________
Love this episode? Your reviews really help us a lot:
Leave us a review on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/
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Leave us a review on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1D6MzYn5pFiNlr8aNaoqEn?si=dcafbd9048684d4d
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Timestamps:
00:00:00 – Intro
00:00:58 – Tip 1
00:03:08 – Tip 2
00:04:23 – Tip 3
00:06:39 – Tip 4
00:09:31 – Use Case 1
00:18:26 – Use Case 2
00:28:11 – Use Case 3: Creating Engaging Marketing Graphics
00:36:25 – Use Case 4: Advanced Photo Editing & Manipulation
00:43:56 – Use Case 5: Infographics and Explainer Visuals
00:51:11 – Broader Implications
01:01:18 – Conclusion