John Shehata 📰 Extra, Extra! Read All About SEO

John is a highly experienced SEO with over 25 years of expertise in the digital marketing space.
 
He has worked with numerous major companies, including Disney, ESPN, The Atlantic, and more.
 
He has served in leadership roles directing SEO teams of over 100 experts.
 
He founded the enterprise SEO company NewzDash and the news SEO conference NESS.
 
He is widely recognized for his technical SEO innovations and strategies tailored for news and enterprise sites.
 
He is a sought-after consultant, speaker, and writer who continues to shape the SEO industry.
 
Please welcome John Shehata!

Watch the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8WW14Vn9vk

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Transcript

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What's up SEO fam and welcome back to another episode of the SEO Knowledge Bomb podcast! I'm your host Paul Andre and today I had the privilege of speaking with John Shehata, an absolute legend in the SEO industry with over 25 years of experience.

John has spearheaded SEO initiatives for major publishers like Disney, ESPN, The Atlantic, Vogue, Wired, and many more. He's served in leadership roles managing large SEO teams and even founded his own SEO software company, Newzdash. He's known for his technical innovations for optimizing news and enterprise sites.

So I was pumped to pick John's brain on all things related to SEO for publishers and news sites. There were so many gems dropped in this interview that I want to share with you all.

First off, John emphasized that SEO for publishers is very different than traditional SEO. With news SEO, you can see results almost instantly versus waiting months with regular SEO.

He also explained there are multiple surfaces where Google displays news content. There's the news carousel in regular search results, the news tab in search, Google News website, and Google Discover feed. Optimizing for each surface requires some unique strategies.

One of John's biggest tips was the importance of diversifying - diversify your traffic sources, audience demographics, and mix of evergreen versus news content. Relying too heavily on one channel like Facebook or news about a specific topic can be risky long-term.

I also appreciated John breaking down how to align with news search intent. People commonly search names, locations, organizations and events plus a descriptor. Like "Joe Biden economy" or "Miami shooting".

Now let's get into some juicier stuff!

For optimizing specifically for Google Discover, John said focus on your high affinity entities that you have authority around based on past successful content. Leverage tools like his GDash.com to analyze entities.

Next, he talked about the importance of compelling, clickable headlines - almost like a "social buzz factor". If content gets shared a lot on social media, that's a sign it may do well in Discover.

For handling Google updates, John stressed not to panic. Be patient, wait 1-2 weeks to fully understand the impact. Then evaluate if it's a content or technical issue. There are some great resources on adhering to Google's helpful content guidelines.

Looking ahead, John sees publishers being burned by over-optimizing for Discover and neglecting core SEO. He predicts news will continue getting more competitive. But focusing on your unique strengths and doubling down on those is key.

Finally, when asked for one tip for new SEOs, John emphasized hands-on practice. Create your own test site, learn by implementing changes yourself. Follow trusted experts, read a lot, and understand the reasoning behind recommendations.

There were so many more nuggets from John I couldn't fit in. So make sure to watch the full interview on YouTube to soak up all his wisdom! If you got value from this, do me a solid and hit subscribe and give the podcast a rating. It really helps the show. Till next time, keep bombing your SEO knowledge fam!