A quick guide to the 'Google SEO leak' for non-SEO people

There has been lots of buzz around the "Google SEO Leak" over the last few weeks. 🗣️ There are plenty of detailed blog posts that go into the nuts and bolts. However, a few people have asked me for a high-level summary, so here you go. 📋

The Google SEO algorithm DID NOT leak. ❌ What leaked was API documentation that covers a huge number of factors (14,014 attributes) that might be part of the algorithm. 🤯 So we know things that Google might consider for SEO, but not which are important. 🧩

Most of the factors were already known. 🤔

The SEO community is angry 😡 because there are factors present in the leak that Google representatives have denied in the past. For example, Google has stated that they don't have a concept of 'Domain Authority' that impacts how individual pages rank, but the leak shows 'siteAuthority.' 📉 They have also stated that they don't use click data from the Chrome browser, but that also looks to be a factor mentioned in the leak. 🖱️ So SEO people who previously argued that these things are important now feel vindicated. 🎉

I understand Google's perspective. They want the search results to best reflect user search intent, but every time a hint goes out about a factor in the algorithm, an industry springs up to try to manipulate that factor. 🕵️‍♂️ So I'm sure they generally deny things that they think will result in manipulation. 🤖

What do you need to do? 🤔 The consensus is that you don't need to change anything in your current approach. Create and distribute valuable content 📚, and ensure your website meets usability standards. 🌟