Google’s search algorithms are constantly changing, but most of the changes go unnoticed by the users. And some of them have an essential impact on SEO and marketing strategies which is one big reason why they shouldn’t be ignored. These changes also affect how customers view your website and how many new people you can reach through Google, ultimately affecting your sales rate. So to help you ensure that the changes don’t get missed, here are the recent Google search algorithm updates.
The phrase “Google Search Algorithm” refers to the internal process used by Google to rank content. It’s a complex system looks at several factors, ranging from backlinks to usability and keyword mentions. That’s because Google aims to provide its users with the most relevant and high-quality content. To continue returning only the relevant pages for a particular search query, it needs to update the algorithms constantly it’s based on.
But what does it mean for your business, especially regarding significant updates that can change your website’s visibility on the search results page? How does it affect your prospects, the amount of organic traffic you get, and the sales?
While these questions are likely to raise concern among most entrepreneurs, the good news is that there’s nothing to worry about. Learning how the algorithm changes impact your SEO strategy is not the easiest process and may require you to invest in services such as link building for agencies. Still, with the proper knowledge, it’s perfectly possible.
Let’s take a closer look at the Google algorithm updates in 2023 and methods every site owner can use to stay on top of the changes.
What Are Google Search Algorithm Updates?
One thing everyone should know about Google is that they prefer to stay quite vague about their core updates, which are typically released several times a year. Even though they usually don’t give many details about the things that have changed, the common thing about these updates is that they all are created to improve how Google sees websites. This allows the search engine to rank them more accurately.
It’s no secret that Google emphasizes the user’s overall experience with each website. Thus, the better this experience is on a specific page, the updates are likely to make Google favor a “good” website and show it higher in the search results.
This way, the website will get more organic traffic. After all, there are few things worse than spending hours upon hours developing the best and most attractive pricing strategies and seeing that your website doesn’t show up high enough in the search results to be noticed by potential customers.
Google may not be disclosing too many details about the changes to the algorithm, but with a careful analysis of the search results, determining what they’re all about isn’t impossible. It would help if you always focused on the quality and relevance of the search query, so read on to learn more about the SEO practices that will allow you to rank higher.
How to Benefit From Google’s Algorithm Updates
There’s no other way around this — if you want more traffic to your website, you need to appear higher on Google. So here are a few practices you can follow to harness the power of the latest search algorithm updates and capitalize on them.
Link Building
Link building is one of the best ways a business can respond to Google’s actions. The process of building both external and internal linking strategies is an excellent method used by many businesses to build greater domain authority. Additionally, including some external links to high-quality websites in your content can help show Google that you’ve done a great deal of research and stand for the E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) guidelines.
Using Snippets
Rich snippets are another proven and effective way to ensure that your website will rank higher even after the ever-so-secretive algorithm changes. Not only do rich snippets, defined as normal Google search results with additional data displayed, have a much higher click-through rate, but they also allow you to add more value to your website.
Reviews
If you run a business that can boast an excellent reputation and many satisfied customers, then you should encourage them to write reviews for your business on Google Reviews. This way, the reviews will appear in the search results info box and get your prospects’ noticed immediately.
Even after all the previous and latest core updates, online reviews remain the fifth most significant parameter when it comes to determining how high your business ranks on Google.
Interesting reading: Why is My Google Review Not Showing Up?High-Quality Content
In 1996, Bill Gates wrote an essay titled “Content is King,” and this title-turned-statement remains true to this day. Creating exceptional quality content is a surefire way to ensure that you will get noticed by the algorithm.
Don’t worry if you’re not much of a writer yourself. You can always allow guest posts or use your personal experience and expertise to create content filled with helpful information. But, of course, the more accurate and valuable your content is, the better for your SEO efforts.
Interesting reading: 10+ AI-Powered Content Creation ToolsTestimonials
A lot has also changed regarding Google’s Product Review ranking algorithm. The changes first came in March 2023, but in May, even more, happened. Now, the algorithm focuses on the information left by people who have actually used different products or services. Such as those provided by your own business.
It also favors “evidence” that can take the form of instructions on how to use products or photos of what they look like. However, if your business is focused mainly on services rather than physical products that you can easily photograph, you can provide testimonials instead. This way, you will build more brand authority and get noticed by Google simultaneously.
Web Design
Lastly, a well-designed website can also help you rank higher in the search results. For example, if your website features many videos, graphics, or multimedia, it also needs a sitemap. Sitemaps allow webmasters to provide search engines with more information about their websites’ pages that can be crawled. When there’s no sitemap, this process takes much longer and can cause your website to rank lower than expected.
In Conclusion
In the world of digital marketing, changes are constantly happening. And judging by the number of important updates, it’s evident that Google does not like to fall behind. Even though, in the wake of these changes staying on top of them may seem impossible. So follow some of the crucial SEO practices and keep yourself well updated about the new changes. And you won’t have to worry about anything.
As far as SEO is concerned, high-quality and relevant content will always remain the most important to Google; however, if the changes introduced by Google prove too complicated at any point. Then, you can always consider investing in the services of a professional digital marketing agency. This will make the task easier and hassle-free for you, ultimately enabling you to achieve your desired results as fast as possible.
