Digital marketers are in charge of driving brand awareness and lead generation through all the digital channels — both free and paid — that are at a company’s disposal. These channels include social media, the company’s own website, search engine rankings, email, display advertising, and the company’s blog.
Boom! Google is back with a bang! Google has announced its second update for the year, and it is not like its previous updates with cute names, but it is named May 2020 Core Algorithm Update.
Well! This update was confirmed by Danny Sullivan by his tweet
Google is trying to fit in the shoes of the economy! Don’t you think?
In this pandemic where everyone is concerned about their health and safety, Google announces a core algorithm update to keep the economy in pace. As per the latest results, Nowadays, people are getting completely digital with the new norms of Social Distancing.
Google just played their cards to guide theDigital Marketers, how to make the next move.
In this New Update, Google has tried to study the pattern of the users and draw an algorithm around it to deliver the best possible results.
How?
Lets, dig into the new algorithm and know what it says,
To produce widely noticeable effects on search engines the basic updates are designed.
Effects of the new updates, sites may observe a drop or gain in their search rankings.
The relevance of the content is a major key behind the changes in the ranking. It will determine the drop or gain over the search rankings.
The content that was not modified at the time when the last update was announced needs to be re-evaluated.
Although, it would nearly take 2 weeks to fully roll out the new updates, and it is said that the highest impact of this algorithm seems to be on several industries, including those which are already affected by this pandemic.
The only mantra that Google wants everyone to chant is to produce high-quality content. The algorithms and several updates will be announced from time to time, but if you are producing high-quality content then you are in the race.
By introducing new updates and algorithms, Google’s only motive is to present relevant and authoritative content to the searchers.
What’s Next?
Naturally, after an update there is no hard and fast rule to overcome the effects of the updates, one should only focus on improvising the content to keep the pace. All you need to understand is your ranking fluctuation and take necessary actions.
If you still wish to be on the top-notch of the ranking after the May 2020 Core Algorithm Update, you can go ahead with:
Unique is our new normal if your content isdistinctivefrom others it will drag more attention and easier to get higher rankings on Google.
Quality links to your web-pages always help to improve the ranking. If you have any faulty or unnatural link to your web pages, you should remove it.
Today, one can stay without other amenities but not without mobile. So, making your content available to their cellular devices and making it user friendly. Will help you boost your rankings.
Content duplicacy can be an issue as it will drop your ranking. You should re-audit the content and make it unique.
Keywords play a vital role in ranking, what-if right keywords are not targeted on the right pages, it will be useless. Pay more focus on keyword targeting.
The relevance of the content is important as it directly or indirectly determines the drop or gains over the search rankings.
A sum-up to the new updates: May 2020 Core Algorithm Update
Content must focus on providing original reports, information, research, or analysis along with a detailed description of the topic. A descriptive headline is always better, and all SEO Specialists must review their content on the parameters like quality, comparative questions, results, and authoritativeness.
Freelancer Digital Marketers are just a call away to help you sort your content and website issues as per the new algorithm updates by Google.
Update in Google Algorithm always leaves us in a state of confusion as it either creates ease or mystery in the SEO industry. The new update in the Featured Snippet is also a big question for all, let us take you on a journey which defines it.
The answers you will cover in this journey:
What is Featured Snippet?
What is the update in Featured Snippet?
Impact of Featured Snippet on SEO Specialist
Benefits of Featured Snippet
How to earn Featured Snippet?
Let’s begin the tour!
What is Featured Snippet?
The story of Featured Snippet started in the year 2014. A Featured Snippet is often referred to as “Rank 0” and is highly coveted by marketers due to its prominent location.
A featured snippet is said to be the prominent answer to a search query, usually found above the organic result on a Search-Engine-Result-Page (SERP).
There are 3 common types of SERP Featured Snippet:
Paragraph Answers (usually 40-60 words)
Numbered or Bulleted Lists (up to eight points)
Tables (with multiple columns)
[Takeaway 01: The term Featured snippet iswhen google shows a search result in a special featured snippet block at the top of the search results page.]
What is the update in Featured Snippet?
This story begins on January 23, 2020, when Google announces its Featured Snippets Updated Algorithm.
Google officials announced that it has rolled out an algorithm update that will restrict URLs that are shown in the featured snippet to appear again within the first ten organic search results.
According to Danny (Google’s Public Searchliaison), the new tweak in the algorithm will ensure the Search Results page is not cluttered, and only relevant information gets displayed.
He also confirmed that the featured snippet will be counted as one of the ten listings on the SERP.
The updated Featured Snippet answers these queries of Digital Marketers:
Information that is regularly updated – A new algorithm improves the search by understanding what information remains useful over time and what becomes out-dated more quickly.
Information that changes as time passes – the information that needs to get freshness as its nature might change with time. The information needs change on a time-based event that’s in the future as compared to the information needed for an event that has already occurred.
Current Events – The information is useful only when it’s up-to-date and matches the requirement of the current event. The marketer, as well as theSEO Freelancers, believes to be updated with the trend as per the on-going events.
[Takeaway 02: The Featured snippet update is important because it forces the content creators and publishers to review which content is evergreen and what kind of content requires updates.]
Impact of Featured Snippet Updation on the SEO Specialist
The update in the Google algorithm leaves a major impact on the work of the SEO Specialists,Digital Marketers and Search specialist as the results are always associated with the algorithms and the updates.
Tension! Tension! Tension!
Don’t worry, SEOs and Site Owners can take a deep breath as there’s no significant change in organic search traffic following Google’s featured snippet update.
A deep sigh! As it is worth noting that there were minor fluctuations detected in specific industries but these were very similar to day-to-day fluctuations.
Auto industry (searches with informational intent): A 10% increase in traffic was observed between January 22 – January 23.
Auto industry (searches with transactional intent): A 15% decrease in traffic was observed from January 22 – January 23.
Finance industry (searches with informational intent): A 4% increase in traffic was observed from January 22 to January 23.
[Takeaway 03: The Featured snippet reminds the publisher that the content needs to be reviewed from time to time and it is the content that makes a powerful impact on their working.]
Benefits of Featured Snippets
The updates in Google’s Algorithm in regard to the Featured Snippet was a natural progression for the search engine to improve the results for the user, but why bloggers, publishers, digital marketers, and otherSEO Specialist work so hard to get, here are the reasons:
Increase In Website Traffic – The most prominent benefit of getting a featured snippet is more traffic to the website.Users like featured snippet as it provide quick answers to their questions and this benefits the chosen site with increased traffic, which could be 20-30%
Increase In Conversions – Featured Snippet helps in the hefty increase in the organic conversions. It is also referred to as “Rank 0” which is above all the conversions. It means that you can attract more potential customers to your website by which your chances of increasing online conversions are significantly heightened.
Increase In Brand Awareness – Featured snippet not only helps to increase organic conversions or traffic on the website, but it also creates awareness about your brand. It displays your content, a website on the search result as it finds your content relevant and authentic for the users. It also helps to generate credibility about your website in the mind of the users.
Increases Website Authority – Link building, the total number of visits, average time spent on the website and many other factors are also considered when Google determines the authenticity of the website. By obtaining the featured snippet, it means that Google chooses your website over others as the most relevant answers to the queries of the users.
Increases Keyword Ranking – The increase in website authority from the featured snippet triggers an improvement in keyword rankings and the online visibility and credibility of the website. The right keyword opportunity that could be ideal for your site helps to qualify your site for the featured snippet.
[Takeaway 04: The Featured snippet benefits the working of an SEO, Marketer and Site owners in various ways as it is directly or indirectly the mode of generating traffic, brand awareness, conversions, authority, and keyword opportunity.]
How to earn Featured Snippet?
Analyze keyword opportunities.
Create new strategic content.
Create a Question & Answer format.
Create ease for Google by adding Subheadings, Lists, Tables, etc.
Review and Polish existing snippets on a timely basis for increased CTR.
[Takeaway 05: The Featured snippet can be earned by implementing the desired changes required by the users, but to understand the desired changes all you need is “WE”]
Get a featured snippet for your website
We the Freelance Digital Marketers are here just a call away to help you implement the changes required to be featured by Google on the Rank #0
To understand the requirements of our client in one-take is what makes us special and different from others.
Google and its algorithm updates are the most important part of the SEO industry. Most of the updates were so minor that they went unnoticed and few updates were so major that shook the SEO world completely.
Today! We will brief you on the Major 3 Algorithm of Google and Major 3 updates by Google that shook the SEO world. The flow of the blog will be as follow:
Google Algorithms
Panda
Penguin
HummingBird
3 Major Updates by Google
RankBrain
MobileGeddon
Fred
Google Algorithms
[Starting with the major 3 algorithms, As we all know that Google has named its Algorithms differently such as Panda, Penguin, Humming Bird and so on..]
GOOGLE PANDA
Panda Algorithm was first launched on February 23, 2011. The reason to launch the Panda algorithm was to make a difference in the quality of search results. It focuses on promoting high-quality content sites in search results and demotes the sites with lower-quality content comparatively.
When the Panda algorithm was introduced, the working of theSEO Researchers,Digital Marketers, andSEO Professionals was majorly affected as it was all about on-site quality. There were a few factors in regards to Panda:
Thin Content – By “thin page” means a page that adds little or no value to the reader. The content shared on the sites in a frame of few words on a page does not have a major impact or solution to the queries of users. Hence, If you have a large number of pages on your site that contain just a few sentences and were indexed by Google, then the Panda algorithm may determine those as low quality or spam pages.
Duplicate Content – Panda algorithm reviews the content on the site and has several ways to identify the duplicity of the content. The duplicate content was viewed as a low-quality site by Panda. Panda takes action when a large amount of content on your website or blog was copied from other sources, hence, the originality of the content was questioned.
Low-Quality Content – Content could be of high quality and low quality at the same time depending on the reader’s query. The Panda determines whether the Content is of “Low-Quality” or “High-Quality” by users’ experience. When a user returns unsatisfied from your page and doesn’t return back and if this happens repetitively, then there were chances that Panda considers your site/page under Low-Quality content.
GOOGLE PENGUIN
The Penguin Algorithm was rolled out on April 24, 2012. The focus of Penguin was to demote the unnatural backlinks and gain greater control over the authenticity and quality links.
Every time Penguin shares its updates, it has an impact on the search results. By Penguin Algorithm, google made it clear that only natural, authoritative and relevant links reward their website and manipulative, spammy links downsize it.
On September 23, 2016, the major news flashes that the Penguin became a part of the Core Algorithm, by this Penguin evaluates the websites and links in real-time. This implies that you can see the instant impacts of your link-building or remediation work.
GOOGLE HUMMINGBIRD
Google announced its new algorithm named Humming Bird on September 26, 2013. The name was derived keeping in mind the features of the HummingBird i.e. speed and accuracy. In short, it aims to improve the search result depending on the needs of the query. The main purpose was to translate the semantic search into reality. This update is a path towards the betterment of the inevitable rise of voice search.
Additionally, the HummingBird has effects on the local SEO and local organic results as:
Greater localization of the organic result to the queries.
The substantial presence of a directory type results in the local organic results
3 Major Google Updates
Google Algorithm updates always had a major impact on the SEO world or should say they shook the SEO world to an extent. The updates are very important as they enhance the working of the industry. The major 3 updates that were noteworthy and have a major impact on the SEO world are:
RankBrain
MobileGeddon
Fred
GOOGLE RankBrain
RankBrain is a machine learning (AI) algorithm that Google introduced to sort the search results. It helped Google process and understand the search queries. RankBrain understands that these terms were the same thing and show nearly identical search results.
RankBrain process depends on the keywords, accordingly, it increases or decreases the importance of backlinks, content freshness, content length, domain authority, etc.
Back in the day, Google used to look at separate words within a query to figure out the search intent, which didn’t always work out. In April 2015, Google introduced RankBrain, the purpose of which was processing never-before-seen search queries and predicting the best results for them.
#How does RankBrain work?
RankBrain uses artificial intelligence to embed vast amounts of written language into mathematical entities — called vectors — that the computer can understand. If RankBrain sees a word or phrase it isn’t familiar with, the machine can guess as to what words or phrases might have a similar meaning and filter the result accordingly, making it more effective at handling never-before-seen search queries.
Greg Corrado
A few years ago, Google had a problem that 15% of the keywords that people search in the Google search query were ‘never seen before.’ But as these keywords were brand new, Google had no clue what the searcher wanted to know. So they guessed but today RankBrain tries to figure out what the searcher meant and show the relevant search results.
RankBrain working is as follows:
Keywords – Understanding search queries.
User Satisfaction – Measuring how people interact with the results.
Keywords
Earlier Google used to figure out what the user search means.
RankBrain tries to deliver the search results according to the user’s query.
RankBrain helps the users by showing similar results of their search.
User Satisfaction
RankBrain shows the user a set of search results that they think match your query.
If a lot of people like one particular page in the search result, it will give that page a ranking boost, and, if they didn’t like it, RankBrain will drop that page and replace it with a different page.
# How RankBrain changed SEO?
RankBrain aims at connecting their searchers with the relevant search results, therefore, search intent had become a priority. That is why RankBrain boosts the rank of the pages that meet the user’s requirement. In the changing world, content optimization is impossible without understanding the search intent and carrying out intent specific keyword research.
Earlier, the majority of the SEOs used the ONE-KEYWORD-ONE-PAGE concept which is dead now. The change with the RankBrain is that it has shifted the focus from keywords to topics i.e. better content optimization.
#How to optimize for RankBrain?
We have learned and experienced a little more about the program since its launch, the most important aspects of SEO in general, or that RankBrain is amplifying the importance of quality content. Here are some suggestions to optimize for the RankBrain
Natural Language – Since the search query was generated by humans, it was suggested to write content that sounds human. If one tries to write like a machine then RankBrain will get confused and probably pushes you back.
Search Intent – RankBrain supplies the most relevant search results, therefore, it was important that your page matches the desired search intent as it entails high CTR. So, to optimize for the RankBrain, try to understand the search intent.
Relevance and Comprehensiveness – As RankBrain is shifting focus from keywords to topics, one needs to make the content pages as comprehensive as possible by diversifying them with related terms and synonyms.
Snippets – As we learned that CTR is among the things that RankBrain takes into consideration when estimating page relevance, therefore, it was important to make sure your snippets were optimized as they directly influence the CTR.
Continuous efforts to monitor niche – The important factor to remember is that RankBrain can re-adjust SERPs if it thinks the search intent of your keywords has changed. Hence, it was highly recommended to keep an eye on the niche.
GOOGLE MobileGeddon
MobileGeddon’s name has arrived with the combination of two words i.e. Mobile and Armageddon. This Google update was way too simple than its name. When we talk about mobile phones in the present scenario no one will think of the keypad mobiles or any other model. It is a generation of Smart-phones, so Google also updated its algorithm to rank sites as a “mobile-friendly” label on mobile search results.
By this update, searchers could more easily find high-quality, and relevant results where the text was readable without tapping or zooming, tap targets were spaced appropriately, and the page avoids unplayable content or horizontal scrolling.
This update hit us on April 21, 2015, the major three working affected by this update are:
Search rankings on mobile devices.
Search results in all languages globally.
Applies to individual pages, not entire websites.
This update isn’t only about organic search, it was more about adapting consumer’s behavior, who was getting more mobile-friendly. MobileGeddon is an important update but Google used a variety of signals to rank search results.
# Is MobileGeddon Update Greater than Panda or Penguin?
It was revealed at the SMX Munich that the MobileGeddon update had a greater impact on the SEO industry than Panda or Penguin algorithm. Experts commented that the update worked as it was intended, and, non-mobile friendly pages were negatively impacted in the360-Degree Digital Marketing Services and the mobile search began to fall in the SERPs.
# Impact of MobileGeddon on the SEO Industry.
Apart from ranking, the other things which were affected by this update were:
Website Undiscoverable – The update in the algorithm had made most website Undiscoverable as the first-page acquires more mobile-friendly websites as compared to the non-mobile friendly websites.
Competitors Over-take – If you don’t get updated with the updates in the algorithm it means you gave the chance to your competitors to take the lead. This could lead to fewer clicks, fewer calls, and less business.
GOOGLE Fred
Google was pacing with the change in time. Accordingly, Google Fred was an algorithm designed to target Black-Hat tactics that were too connected with monetization. Google Fred specifically looks for low-value content, excessive ads, and websites that offer low benefits to the users.
Google rolled out its new update as in March 2017, named “Fred”. SEO professionals determined that it primarily affected low-quality, ad-heavy sites with thin content and bad backlinks, as Google was indefinite about the target of the algorithm.
Websites with these attributes were affected the most:
Focused on over monetization.
Misleading or Deceptive Ads.
Ads that tricked the users to click them.
Saturated with affiliate links, ads, and low-value content.
Blogs with the sole purpose of SEO ranking.
Barrier and Issues to Users Experience.
Poor mobile-friendly.
#How to optimize your site for Google Fred?
Google Fred rewards websites that offer excellent user experience with relevant information and penalizes websites that focus on aggressive monetization. Here are some suggestions, mentioned in the update, that can help:
Clear and Specific Content – The content/information available on your website should have a clear and specific purpose.
Appropriate keywords and metadata – We suggest to use appropriate and relevant metadata, tags, keywords that clearly state the purpose of the content.
Layout – Review the layout of your site from the user’s point.
Ads– It was not bad to have Ads on your page, but you should limit the quantity and consider its placements.
Search Quality Rater – You should follow the guidelines of Search Quality Rater for the self-evaluation of your website.
Update your website
We the Freelance Digital Marketers are here just a call away to help you implement the changes updated by Google in its Algorithm, that too for complete360 Degree Digital Marketing Services.
To understand the requirements of our client in one-take is what makes us special and different from others.
