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Kaspar Szymanski, a well-known SEO expert and former member of Google’s famed Search Team, is one of the few Googlers who has extensive expertise in policy development, webspam hunts, and webmaster outreach. Kaspar Szymanski is the founder of Search Brothers. He uses his expertise to help recover websites from Google penalties, and to increase visibility of clients’ websites in search engine results.
Kaspar is scheduled to speak at the Prague Gaming & TECH Summit, which will take place 26-27th March 2024 at Vienna House Andel’s Prague.
Thank you Kaspar for your time. We’re excited to learn more about you, a former Google Search Team member and renowned SEO expert! Please introduce yourself in your own words to our readers.
Thank you for the chance to share my experience. Kaspar Szymanski is my name. I was a member of the Google Search Team and worked on Google Search Quality for many years. I was responsible for investigating possible violations of the Google Webmaster Guidelines, issuing penalties where necessary, and lifting penalties when the reconsideration request proved compelling. My experience at Google Search has given me a wealth of knowledge and insights that I can now pass on to my clients. Fili Wiese, a former Google Search engineer who is a giant in the SEO industry and a fellow ex-Google Search engineer, has built ‘SearchBrothers.com’ as an SEO consultancy agency since leaving Google. We offer technical SEO services to website owners in competitive industries. In addition to working with clients, I also enjoy sharing my SEO knowledge at industry events like the 2024 Prague Gaming & TECH Summit.
Let’s jump right into SEO. Given the dynamic nature search engine algorithms, what do you think of the current state and importance of SEO for businesses?
SEO is an industry that is dynamic, and is due to both technical innovations as well as policy developments. However, it is also incredibly consistent. SEO strategies that prioritize the user experience over all else are as effective today as they were 15 years ago. Google’s grand vision includes a constant focus on user satisfaction. It’s not surprising that Google’s dominance in search is fragile, and it can only be sustained by consistently meeting their users’ expectations.
SEO is important for online businesses because organic traffic from Google or Bing can provide a lot of leads. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is never the main focus – that position is reserved for each product or service – but is not far behind when it comes to businesses who want to increase their online sales.
You have an insider view on how Google’s search algorithms change. What is your insider’s view of how Google adapts its search algorithms to the industry?
Google’s current position in the market is what I have found to be a major catalyst for innovation. This is not to suggest that Google doesn’t have to adapt and evolve at times. Google Search Essentials (formerly known as Google Webmaster Guidelines) is a great example of this. These guidelines have undergone numerous modifications and adaptations and are likely to continue evolving in line with human and SEO innovation.
AI is the topic of everyone’s conversation. Does generative AI affect SEO practices? And how can businesses use this technology to improve search visibility, since almost everyone uses it to some extent?
As of now, there are no AI products that can be used commercially. The so-called AI services that are currently available do not have sentience. They do not understand humor or compassion. They fall short of AI for these reasons and others. For now, the most advanced language models will be offered. The databases are comparatively big, but not exhaustive. They use them to replicate what is already available in some form. Copyright can be a liability depending on the source of data if the content is republished. It is not true that so-called AI services are not available to help improve efficiency. These tools can be used to generate simple FAQs or source code in some cases. While the “AI revolution” is not yet here, SEOs have another tool at their disposal to increase their productivity in a very competitive field.
Let’s move on to another topic that is a hot one. How do you expect the impending elimination of third party cookies will impact SEO strategies? Especially in terms of tracking and personalizing user behavior?
It is time for readers to update their SEO strategy if they still rely on third-party cookie technology. Personalization works well, but only for logged-in users. This way, it doesn’t affect SEO signals, as Googlebot won’t log in. Self-hosting analytics solutions can be used to eliminate the need for third-party cookies, and store tracking data directly on site visits.
How would you recommend businesses balance their SEO efforts and other digital marketing channels in a comprehensive strategy?
Some companies have already stopped using third-party cookie to improve the usability of their websites for end users. It may be necessary to coordinate SEO efforts with the other departments in order to ensure that “standard” HTTP responses are not dependent upon cookies. This is the way Googlebot and Google users experience the website.
How can businesses evaluate the success of SEO efforts in the changing landscape, given the evolving metrics?
The performance of the web platform is crucial. It is important because conversion is the ultimate goal and KPI for any business. Google gives preference to websites that are faster, despite the fact that other signals are similar. This is because Google has a well-funded assumption that users prefer websites that load faster. The First Contentful Painting and Cumulative layout shift can be great indicators of the performance of a website. Google Search Console offers a variety of KPIs that can be used to increase sales. This is especially true for sites with high impressions but low CTR. The snippets are not rewarded for relevance in such cases, but can be used as part of an SEO strategy to prioritize the queries that have the highest click-through rate.
You will give a Keynote presentation at the upcoming Prague Gaming & TECH Summit on “Surviving Search Engine Optimization Disasters”. What is the general topic of your presentation and can you give us a “teaser?”?
I am a firm believer that learning from the mistakes of others is a much safer and more cost-effective way to go. I will share real-life examples of SEO decisions that had unintentional, unwanted and sometimes catastrophic consequences. What are the lessons learned from these mistakes? Not only how to avoid them, but also how one can protect their own website from similar SEO risks. I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and to the Q&A session with the audience at the end of the presentation.
Kaspar, thank you so much for the amazing interview! Your invaluable insights will be heard at the Prague Gaming & TECH Summit in 2024!
I am looking forward to the Prague Gaming & TECH Summit in 2024.
Learn all about Surviving Search Engine Optimization Disasters from Kaspar Szymanski at the most influential Gaming & Tech Conference of Central and Eastern Europe.
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