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 y...
Sometimes talking to your users is the best way to figure out why that pesky bounce rate is high. But how do you actually do that, especially if you're on a budget?  In this episode of Search Off the Record, we're learning all about user experience research (UXR) and how getting a better understanding of how your users interact with your website can help when you're looking for ways to improve it. Tune in as Iva Barisic Hafner, a user experience researcher on the Google Shopping team, explains how to use UXR methods to get to the bottom of the "why" behind user behavior.  Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr085-transcript Nielsen Norman Group → https://goo.gle/3YI3xrq List of UXR methods → https://goo.gle/40sI6Ma Iva on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3A7Te6E  Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral  Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
-------- Â
37:10
Designing Google Doodles and delightful experiences
What does recursion, Weather Frog, and Momo the Magic Cat have in common?  In this episode of SOTR, Lizzi and John go behind the scenes of a Google Doodle with Jessica Yu, the lead for Doodles and delight on Google Search, about designing experiences that resonate with your audience. Listen along as we learn more about what's involved in getting an easter egg into Google Search, from hatching the idea to designing (and deploying) the experience and measuring success.  Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr084-transcript Jessica Yu on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3BKgSq1 Momo's first appearance → https://goo.gle/3UbGgeC Submitting an idea for the Google Doodle → https://goo.gle/3A04stC AVIF is now supported by Google → https://goo.gle/3NrwhhK  Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral  Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
-------- Â
31:00
Google Search Reliability
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Ben Walton and David Yule from the Google Search Site Reliability Team (SRE) walk us through their day to day work, which surprisingly is not just about putting out fires! Learn what Search SREs really do, how they handle incidents that occasionally occur, and what it takes to be an SRE for Google Search.  Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr083 SRE handbook → https://goo.gle/3XSbVUF David on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3XQKavR Ben on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/4ewAkEX  Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral  Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
-------- Â
36:40
How do I know if my SEO is doing a good job?
It's been a few months since you hired an SEO; how can you tell if things are headed in the right direction?  In this episode of Search Off the Record, Lizzi and John interview Erika Varangouli, head of Branded Content at Riverside.fm, about all things hiring and working with SEOs. Just because uplift isn't happening doesn't mean they're not doing work; we walk through practical things to check throughout the process, such as how things are prioritized, is there regular reporting, and proactive communication around things that don't go as planned.  Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr082-transcript John's initial LinkedIn Post → https://goo.gle/3XNOqfI Erika Varangouli on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3ZukgiH Erika on X → https://goo.gle/3XXGBUR Do I Need an SEO? → https://goo.gle/4dabZUb SEO Starter Guide → https://goo.gle/42alrmy  Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral  Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
-------- Â
37:17
Let's talk shopping markup
In this episode of Search Off the Record, Irina Tuduce from the shopping team joins John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman to chat all things shopping data, from schema.org to feeds spec. Listen along as we chat about how shopping infrastructure gets its data, why pricing data can be tricky, and what the Shopping team has been working on this year. Resources: Episode transcript → https://goo.gle/sotr081-transcript Irina Tuduce on LinkedIn → https://goo.gle/3Xuiywf Product structured data → https://goo.gle/4eaPJus Feed spec in Merchant Center → https://goo.gle/3Tdl2MU How to set up Merchant Center account → https://goo.gle/4gcSPjq Merchant-level organization markup → https://goo.gle/47fvmd2 Schema.org community on GitHub → https://goo.gle/4e7A6E3 Variants in Google Search → https://goo.gle/4dU4BOc Merchant Listings report in Search Console → https://goo.gle/47hlNuu  Listen to more Search Off the Record → https://goo.gle/sotr-yt Subscribe to Google Search Channel → https://goo.gle/SearchCentral  Search Off the Record is a podcast series that takes you behind the scenes of Google Search with the Search Relations team.
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!
UK