SEO News - February 2023

February may be the shortest month of the year, but that didn't stop the SEO world.

Here's our round-up of all the biggest happenings in the industry over the last four weeks.

Product Review Update

A new product review update expanded the algorithm to include the following languages:

• English
• Spanish
• German
• French
• Italian
• Vietnamese
• Indonesian
• Russian
• Dutch
• Portuguese
• Polish

"The product reviews system works to ensure that people see product reviews that share in-depth research, rather than thin content that simply summarises a bunch of products."

Sites can demonstrate their 'expertise' by discussing experiences with the product, including insightful analysis and original research. Google rewards these higher-quality product reviews.

Updated Linking Guidance

Google has updated its best practice documentation for links.

Overall, there isn't much that we didn't already know. However, the advice acts as a good point of reference.

There has been added guidance around

• Anchor text placements (between <a> elements)
• Writing good anchor text (keep it concise and descriptive)
• Internal links to your own content (do this!)
• External links to other sites (do it, and don't blanket nofollow)

Helpful Content Update...Continued?

Google search consultant Dr. Marie Haynes shared some insightful thoughts on Twitter last month around the Helpful Content Update.

She notes a trend seen where pages that don't 'get to the point' quickly enough have been disproportionately affected.

For example, if a user or Google cannot quickly identify an answer within your content, it's less likely to do well.

This could change how we structure our pages, influencing things like headers, introductions, and CTAs.

That's all for February! Check back with the SALT SEO news next month to see what March brings.