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Mark Williams-Cook

@markwilliamscook.com

2.1K followers 440 following 1.6K posts

💌 Core Updates SEO newsletter: https://coreupdates.com 💻 Director at Candour https://withcandour.co.uk 💬 Founder at AlsoAsked https://alsoasked.com 🤝 Organiser at SearchNorwich https://searchnorwich.org Fractional idiot. 100% gossip 0% innovation.

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · Jan 14

🎉 Happy to announce for 2025 that @withcandour.co.uk will be working with local charity Norfolk Clubhouse, who support persons facing mental health challenges.

Charity Trustee and Head of Search Tabby Farrar presented June Webb with our initial £10,000 donation 😇

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 4h

LTT effect?

Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 13h

and here is the LTT video youtu.be/RNonfByE9xc?...

Companies are Suing Honest Reviewers and it’s Going to Get UGLY.

YouTube video by Linus Tech Tips

youtu.be

Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 13h

@ichbingisele.bsky.social also kindly replied:

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 15h

Danny kindly replied on LinkedIn and said "A big one was Google finally taking action against site reputation abusers across the entire product review space."

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 16h

Also, RANCOROUS

Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Matt Tutt @matttutt.me · Jan 13

Live footage of Keir Starmer this morning 😄

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 16h

Would love any inside insight @dannyashton.com @ichbingisele.bsky.social

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 16h

After the very rancorous online debate, it looks like housefresh.com more than made their recovery post-HCU decimation.

I wonder how much is:

-> Algo updates
-> Manual intervention (it was very public)
-> Equity earned *because* of the loss (links/brand searches)
-> Things they changed

A line graph from Ahrefs shows the organic search performance of a website. The graph covers the period from February 2021 to October 2025. It plots two lines: one for referring domains (blue line) and one for average organic traffic (orange line).

The referring domains line shows a steady increase from around 0 to just over 6,000. The average organic traffic line remains relatively flat at a low level until late 2024, at which point it begins to climb dramatically, reaching over 240,000 by October 2025. The orange line's steep, upward trend indicates a significant and rapid growth in organic traffic.

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 1d

A side-by-side meme featuring Lisa Simpson. On the left, she is dressed up with makeup and jewelry, with the caption, "How content looks to site owner." On the right, she looks like Mr Burns, "How content looks to site visitor."

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Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Shane Jones @shane.co.uk · 1d

The first "UK Porn Block" / "Child Safety" data breach is out.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/oct/07/discord-data-breach-proof-of-age-id-leaked

I knew it would be quick, but not that quick.

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 1d

🤣

Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Jamie Indigo @not-a-robot.com · 12d

Thank you to all the animal lovers and digital enthusiasts who joined SEO Charity yesterday! Love to see good humans like @fajela.bsky.social and @antonshulke.bsky.social using their powers for good 🐾 🖤
speakerdeck.com/jammerbot/tr...

Trashcat's guide to black boxes: tech seo for LLMs

What can we learn from a feral adult cat posing as a precious kitten? New friends aren't always what they seem. Let's take a critical look at LLM model…

speakerdeck.com

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 2d

Nice timing! I published a whole list that people can use yesterday :) www.linkedin.com/posts/markse...

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Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Shaun Anderson @hoboweb.bsky.social · 2d

Image SEO: A clickMagnetScore actively penalizes images that get a lot of clicks from irrelevant "bad queries," directly fighting visual clickbait.

www.hobo-web.co.uk

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Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Andy Marshall @fotofacade.bsky.social · 3d

✨The literacy of light — through colour and form. In Norwich Cathedral’s north aisle, John McLean’s Trinity windows unfold like a line of visual prose. Unseen but powerfully present..

The north aisle of Norwich Cathedral glows in vivid hues from John McLean’s stained glass windows, bathing medieval stone arches in a radiant gradient of gold and violet.

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Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Cyrus Maxx @zyppy.com · 2d

Something tells me Google's August 2025 spam update—which lasted 26 days(!)—was more significant than we realize

Seeing many *legitimate* sites with significant movement beginning mid-September, reminiscent of the declining slopes we saw with the Helpful Content updates 📉

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 2d

One cover for @divingfor.fun www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYwx...

Koh Tao Nian Rhapsody, Fun Diving on Koh Tao, Thailand

YouTube video by Master Divers

www.youtube.com

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 2d

As a long time reader, I am upset because the entire purpose (for me at least) is to use human expertise to remove ambiguity from a very nuanced topic.

If AI is sprayed all over it, the raison d'être is gone.

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 2d

😂

Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 2d

If it’s where I think, then I will come see you ⚔️

Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 2d

search result for the query, "in andor, did the empire deploy military troops to inflame the situation and incite rebels into action which they could then use as a false pretext for further overreach?" The search result shows four sources: Inverse, Youtini, movie web, and Disney News. The answer, which is provided, reads: "Yes, in "Andor," the Empire is shown deliberately deploying military troops and using provocations to inflame unrest, incite rebel action, and thereby manufacture a false pretext for further crackdowns and authoritarian overreach. Through orchestrated escalations—such as the ruthless handling of the Ghorman protest—the Empire manipulates situations so that peaceful dissent is reframed as violent rebellion, creating public justification for harsher measures and expansion of military control."

Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 3d

Time to start thinking about writing this year's Christmas quiz for the @withcandour.co.uk party 😆

Mark wearing a "F*** the Tories" sweater holds a glass of beer while standing in front of a projection screen showing a multiple-choice question about the company Candour. The person is smiling at the camera and has one hand in the pocket of their jeans. In the background, there is a laptop, chairs, and a colorful prize wheel.

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Mark Williams-Cook @markwilliamscook.com · 3d

Freelancers: "Client rejected my content because it had an em dash and they thought it was AI." Meanwhile:

Newspaper article with the headline: "Deloitte to refund government, admits using AI in $440k report." Below the headline are the authors' names, "Edmund Tadros and Paul Karp," and the date, "Oct 5, 2025 – 7.41pm." The body text begins: "Deloitte Australia will issue a partial refund to the federal government after admitting that artificial intelligence had been used in the creation of a $440,000 report littered with errors including three nonexistent academic references and a made-up quote from a Federal Court judgement."

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Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Myriam Jessier @myriam.dopamine.builders · 3d

We've got some Halloween accessibility tips right here (timestamped for you). They are from last year's annual scream queens Candour podcast.

1. Use readable color contrasts and do not depend solely on orange/black.

2. ALT for products should be FUN and descriptive aka context-rich.

Halloween SEO Tips & Google Trends - Myriam Jessier & Stéphanie Walter

Join hosts Jack Chambers-Ward and the Search With Candour Scream Queens, Myriam Jessier, and Stéphanie Walter, in this Halloween-themed episode packed with spooky surprises and valuable marketing insights. From e-commerce strategies and UX design to SEO tips and digital PR trends, you'll discover the scariest messages from your boss and the history of Halloween itself. 00:00 Spooky Introduction and Halloween Special 🎃 01:28 Sponsor - SE Ranking Overview 03:00 Sponsor Optmyzr: The Ultimate PPC Management Tool 📈 05:51 👻 Halloween Tips and Spooky Conversations 👻 08:54 🎃 The History and Evolution of Halloween 🎃 15:59 🧛♂️ Halloween Costumes and Cognitive Biases 🧛♂️ 38:23 Halloween Trends Analysis 39:00 Comparing Halloween Popularity Over the Years 40:58 Marketing Strategies and Cognitive Biases 44:53 Corporate Messages That Will Chill Your Spine 56:53 SEO and UX: The Future of E-commerce 01:03:36 Closing Thoughts Follow Myriam 1. LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/myriamjessier/ 2. Neurospicy - https://www.neurospicy.agency/ 3. Pragm...

youtu.be

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Reposted by Mark Williams-Cook

Yordan Dimitrov @yordan-dimitrov.com · 3d

As we are rapidly approaching @searchnstuff.co.uk week and celebrating @yagmursimsek.bsky.social‘s birthday today 🎂

I wanted to let you all know that there are still some tickets left. In fact you can get one for only €135.20 using my discount: YDIMITROV35 💚

searchnstuff.co.uk/conferences/...

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€135.20

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