What are the key changes in the latest SEO updates?
As businesses and entrepreneurs, keeping up with the latest updates and trends is critical to remain competitive in the online landscape. Recently, there have been several key changes in the realm of search engine optimization (SEO) that one must be aware of to achieve success online. In this article, we will go over the latest SEO updates and explain why they are important for your business.
1. Google’s Core Web Vitals Update
One of the most significant updates to occur recently is Google’s Core Web Vitals, which relates to user experience (UX). Core Web Vitals metrics measure loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability to improve the experience of the website user. In May of 2021, the update was launched, and it affects only the page content of one’s website. This new ranking factor is critical to be aware of since it influences how a website ranks in search engine results pages (SERP) and user satisfaction
Website owners that do not pay attention to Core Web Vitals may see a negative change in their website traffic, dwell time and user engagement statistics.
2. Substantial Changes in Google’s Algorithms
Google algorithms are sets of rules applied to its search engine to index and provide search results for users. In June of 2021, the page experience update rolled out to improve the website usability experience with a host of new PageExperience tools and a critical Core Web Vitals update.
The rise of machine learning technologies has compelled google to develop a set of algorithms that explore queries based on a wide variety of search attributes- there is no longer a one-size-fits-all solution. By diversifying the query results, Google is providing more personalized user experiences.
3. Google’s Local Search Update
Google’s Local Search Update has been an exciting development in encouraging small business owners to be more concerned about local SEO (LSO) strategy. LSO has become a critical ranking factor for businesses to improve their posts and products locally. Local SEO largely incorporates registering a business on Google My Business, declaring an accurate version of the business name and address, and filling out the company’s information such as hours of operation and customer reviews.
Incorporating this local search update in business plannings can help owners improve their customer base, gain credibility in the online community, drive more traffic to local pages, and ultimately increase revenue from local customers.
4. Mobile-First Indexing
The rise of mobile browsing has been nothing short of astronomical, with 72.6% of all internet users accessing the web through their mobile phones. As such, Google has made mobile-first indexing their top priority so that search engines can assess and rank web pages based on their mobile versions before desktop ones.
Users will no longer need to cater to mobile devices and create a different website or separate URLs to enhance their mobile site’s performance. However, mobile-first indexing is distinct, and site owners will need to ensure that their website or web pages are compatible with mobile devices.
5. Long-form Content is Being Prioritized
Long-form content is considered content over 2,000 words in length. According to several reports, long-form articles appear to rank near the top of the first page results, while short-form content, 300 to 500 words, has experienced a decline. It’s not because Google suddenly recognizes the value of comprehensive content. Long-form content is becoming a better-read for users, and it contributes to better user engagement and higher retention rates.
6. Visual Search is Becoming Increasingly Popular
Until recently, meta descriptions and image SEO were considered the only viable way for organizing visual data. Visual search technology, however, is evolving and will shortly be a critical factor in making content searchable.
Visual search, where users can perform image searches by using an image as a search query, will most likely overtake text query searches in the near future. In this context, eCommerce stores can certainly drive sales by optimizing their product images with relevant and descriptive keywords and optimized alt tags.
7. BERT Algorithm Update
Google introduced its BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) algorithm update in October 2019, and over two years later, its effects are still a significant ranking factor. BERT improves Google’s understanding of user searches’ context, meaning, and intent by paying attention to words’ localized meanings.
BERT changes the way businesses and entrepreneurs blog or market their products by putting more emphasis on user engagement and writing simple, understandable content that is thoroughly contextualized.
In Conclusion
SEO protocols and update algorithms from companies like Google and Bing are continually changing, which makes it make it imperative for businesses to stay informed. It’s also vital for businesses to stay up to date on ranking factors and policies to keep ahead of the curve and stay competitive in the marketplace. In the article, we have highlighted the latest SEO updates, including Google’s Core Web Vitals and BERT algorithm update, Mobile-First Indexing, Long-form Content prioritization, Google Local Search Update, Visual search popularity, and substantial changes in Google’s algorithms. It is highly recommended for businesses to incorporate these SEO changes into their marketing strategies and optimize their websites for better engagement with customers and growth in revenue.