The Google search engine algorithm is constantly in flux, updating on a daily basis so that Google can provide the best search results for its users. This can make it difficult for SEO specialists to determine what actions website builders can take to make their content SEO friendly. Fortunately, there are watershed updates a few times a year that allow SEO specialists to deduce what Google is looking for in web content. By analyzing these updates and the state of the internet after they are released, we can create an SEO guideline for our future content.
Link Spam Update
Blackhat link spamming has always been a concern for Google. Previous link updates have targeted link-farming websites using web crawlers, but with the link spam update, Google has begun to utilize AI-powered software.
The program is called SpamBrain, an AI-powered spam-prevention system. With it, Google can more efficiently detect blackhat link spamming websites.
Helpful Content Update
Google has prioritized content that is aimed at helping visitors rather than appealing to SEO algorithms for years. Helpful content update is part of a series of updates and refreshers that have been happening since 2005.
The helpful content update prioritizes content that conforms to visitors and utilizes the owner’s expertise and authority in their industry to help answer search inquiries.
Google Core Update
Google released a major core update to the search engine algorithm. The impact it left on websites and SEO specialists were significant. While Google never released a press release on what changes occurred after the update, by analyzing the raw numbers, we can infer what Google was attempting to accomplish with its latest core update. By using analytics, SEO specialists and website owners can adapt accordingly.
eCommerce Stores Need To Prioritize Product Reviews
One of the biggest takeaways that the SEO community could detect after the core update was that Google is heavily prioritizing eCommerce stores with a large number of reviews for their products or services.
In order to capitalize on this update, eCommerce stores need to make a concentrated effort to get customer reviews. This means creating automated emails and notifications to previous customers asking for positive reviews if they enjoyed the product or service.
Video Content Is Key
After the core update, websites with large amounts of video content saw a significant increase in Google search rankings. Improvements to the algorithm and machine learning have made it easier for Google to deduce the quality and relevance of video content. Since visitors spend more time on websites while watching video content, it makes sense to prioritize it.
Backlinks Are Still King
Link building has always been the go-to strategy for SEO specialists in improving a client’s Google search ranking. Analyzing the data after the update indicates that this is still the case and that the core update didn’t affect websites with high-quality backlinks.
