Here we go again, Google: Google hint’s at improving site rankings but what does that mean for you?

The world’s leading search engine and pain in the backside for us SEO experts across the web has recently hinted at a significant change in its next algorithm update, aiming to improve site rankings. It really could work in our favour this time, or so experts seem to think. This announcement has naturally caused unwavering stirs throughout the industry, specifically for our SEO wizards and webmasters alike. In this article, we dive into the depths of the Google algorithms hints and have researched what this could mean for us and for our websites.

Google wants to focus on Quality and Relevance.

In a recent blog post from Google’s Danny Sullivan, hinted at the upcoming changes by stating

“Our next update will emphasise the importance of content quality and relevance more than ever before. We aim to reward websites that provide valuable, authoritative, and engaging content that meets the needs of their audience”.

This sounds like an overall positive thing especially for those of us who are keeping up-to-date with SEO tactics and ensuring we follow Google’s ruling, surely we should all benefit from this? But, perhaps not. Here’s why, you may find your current agency’s SEO tactics are old hat, or worse, black hat which could mean this particular update could have a negative impact to your overall website meaning less leads, you may think we are catastrophizing but this could cause adverse effects for our small-medium-sized businesses who count on those leads for income. By ensuring you, as a marketer or you, as a business owner, are staying educated in the realm of Google and taking the right steps to ensure the update doesn’t hit hard, well - you should be safe.. But it’s always good to get a second opinion from someone who knows how and what to look out for when these updates happen! If you’re worried, you can always check in with our team for a health assessment on your website.

So, what do the experts say about all of this?

Content is still very much King. Google’s emphasis on content quality aligns with its long-standing guidelines. High-quality content backed by thorough research, accuracy and a user-centric approach will naturally rank higher than that of AI produced or shallow content with not a lot of thought or research. Those who have invested good-quality content into their websites such as well-written articles, blog posts and resources will likely benefit from this update.?

According to Neil Patel, a renowned digital marketer

“Google’s algorithm updates consistently favour sites that offer in-depth and useful content. This upcoming update seems to be a continuation of this trend”

Building E-E-A-T or to better explain, Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. In the world of SEO, we hear a lot about E-E-A-T but it’s another crucial aspect of a website. Google has (for as-long as we have been trading) been trying to combat misinformation and has rewarded credible sources with positive outcomes for their efforts through domain authority and metrics. This update may introduce stricter criteria for evaluating a site’s authority but it could have great return for those following the rules.

What do we want? User Engagement, when do we want it? NOW! It’s impressive how sophisticated Google’s algorithms are becoming specifically in measuring user engagement metrics such as time on page, bounce rate and interaction rates. Having engaging content that keeps visitors on the page for longer encourages interaction across the site and therefore, Google favours this - we do too. More engagement and more interaction means bounce rate lowers and guess what? Google loves to see it. User engagement signals are clear indicators to Google of content quality, says Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko.?

Finally, we have mobile-friendliness and page experience. Now, we know that Google has been prioritising mobile-friendly websites and overall page experience for quite some time. These pillars play a large part in The Core Web Vitals, which assess overall page loading speed, interactivity and visual stability. These pillars are likely to play an even more significant role once the update has rolled out. With the imminent update, Core Web Vitals will be reinforced furthermore so it is even more important now to ensure your website’s in good health and fits the necessary requirements.?

Now we need to prepare. How do you ask? We share a simple checklist below.

Audit your content, evaluate your existing content for quality, relevance and authority. Don’t be afraid to reinvent some of your existing ideas to make them better with more authority, refresh outdated content, remove content that doesn’t fit the bill and focus your efforts on creating new, valuable content addressing your audience’s needs.

Enhance E-A-T: Build your site’s expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Don’t forget to add author bio’s to your content, thought leadership is a great way to encourage readers to read on and gain trust from your experts. To increase authority to your website, this can be achieved by earning high-quality backlinks to your site, sharing link juice and increasing that all important domain authority.

Improve User Engagement: We recommend Microsoft Clarity or HotJar as a go-to tool to analyse your users engagement, navigation and to identify areas of improvement on your website. We have a team of experts who can analyse your users engagement, click through rate and mouse flow on your site to work out where improvements may be due.

Optimise your website for mobile devices. Think about how your user may contact you, place an order or want to research your products or services. In the times we live in, this will likely be via a mobile device for a lot of businesses. Pay attention to Core Web Vitals and make all the necessary adjustments to ensure optimal page speed and user experience.

Last but not least, keep up to date with the latest from Google and industry experts. Stay ahead of the curve. If you have any questions or concerns around your own website, please contact our team today for a free consultation.?