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Guide to 2020 Google Algorithm Updates

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What Changes With Each Algorithm Update

Our team at Ventura Web Design & Marketing is dedicated to keeping your website up to date. We actively research algorithm updates when they are released and analyze your website to see which changes are necessary.

Below is a guide to each Google algorithm update beginning in 2020. Bookmark this page or check back frequently as we continuously add updates.

January

February

March

JANUARY 2020

January 2020 Core Update

Estimated Rollout: January 13, 2020

What changed?

The January 2020 Core Update was announced, per Google’s new initiative beginning in 2019 to be more transparent with their algorithm updates. They’ve aimed to announce updates before rolling them out, and so far this seems to be true.

The update, according to Google, was a broad initiative to better ensure quality content for people seeking information.  This means Google continues to push content creators and websites to evaluate what they’re publishing in order to give people the best “answer” possible when searching.

Some SERP layout changes were included in the update as well. Google decided to include a website’s favicon next to its result, and display the site’s breadcrumbs in lieu of the specific URL. For example, instead of https://www.venturawebdesign.com/responsive-vs-mobile-website-design/ appearing just above the meta description, this displays:

Google search result with breadcrumbs

What does this mean?

It’s up to specialists to look at the data and adjust where necessary. Google has indicated that a drop in rankings following this update isn’t necessarily a penalty, per se. But rather a drop in rankings indicates that your information isn’t meeting certain standards as well as it used to according to previous standards.

You will need to evaluate your content and update it to ensure it’s high-quality and providing value to whoever is reading it. This includes showing you are a trustworthy source, proofing your content, presenting your information in a readable and useable way, and more.

Favicon Update

Estimated Rollout: January 24, 2020

What Changed?

Remember the favicon update on January 13? Google rolled this back so favicons no longer show up in the SERPs.

Snippet & Deduplication Update

Estimated Rollout: January 22, 2020

What changed?

Featured snippets that were once known as position zero are now included in the main organic search results and known as position one. URLs for the snippets are no longer displayed (i.e. duplicated) anywhere else in the core search results. For example, if a website held positions zero and one for an article, following the update they’ll only hold position one.

This update also included changes to whether images are deduplicated. Images aren’t impacted by this as long as the URL for the image is different from the URL associated with the text of the snippet.

What does this mean?

The purpose of this update, according to Google, is to declutter the search results page so that people aren’t seeing multiple the same information more than once.

Website owners can choose to alter their SEO strategy accordingly. For example, depending on the strategy, snippets can be opted out of. This would mean that websites would be competing for position 2, instead of positions zero or one prior to the update. This can be done primarily by using the “nosnippet” tag.

Be sure to carefully consider your online strategy before making drastic changes. It’s recommended you discuss this change with a specialist to avoid making mistakes that could penalize you on the Google search result pages.

FEBRUARY 2020

Unconfirmed Local & Maps Update

Estimated Rollout: February 14, 2020

What changed?

Neither officially announced nor confirmed by Google, many websites experienced movement in rankings and traffic fluctuations during/after February 14. Most of these changes impacted local SEO in Google Maps and Google local packs.

What does this mean?

It’s speculated that the unofficial February 14 update was an adjustment to the January 2020 Core Update. Many SEOs sat with the local update for a few days in order to make changes once the dust settled.

MARCH 2020

Nofollow Update

Estimated Rollout: March 1, 2020

What changed?

Prior to the March 1 update, Google treated nofollow tags as law. Nofollow links weren’t crawled, however, that’s changed. Now, nofollow tags are mere suggestions and there’s a possibility Google will visit those links.

What does this mean?

You may want to review how you’ve set up your website to be indexed. Nofollow tags are sometimes used to prevent crawlers from looking at account pages or pages without value to visitors. However, maybe a noindex or meta norobots tag would be more appropriate for your purposes. This change may impact rankings depending on what Google crawls and indexes moving forward.

Man searching Google on laptop

Using Google Search for COVID-19 Business Updates

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Add Structured Data and Submit Announcements To Keep Your Customers In The Loop

Just recently, Yelp introduced custom alerts so business owners could keep their customers in the know about operations during COVID-19. Google is doing the same and has announced a few different ways businesses can update information relevant to the coronavirus.

By taking advantage of this update, business owners can highlight their hours, changes to services, and more. This helps customers find information about your business quickly and easily.

First, you can add structured data to your website which shows customers who find you through Google Search a rich result. A rick result contains a summary that customers can then expand to see more information. Rich results will also update automatically if you makes changes to your page, and can be monitored with reporting.

While this method is recommended, as it gives your updated COVID-19 information to Google faster, it can take a little more time. Think of adding structured data as the long-term solution.

For a short-term solution, you can submit an announcement through Google Search Console. Adding an announcement is easier and faster than adding structured data.

Unlike rich results, your announcement must be updated manually each time you want to post a change to business information. Announcements can’t be monitored through reporting.

If you aren’t sure how to add structured data or submit an announcement, contact Ventura Web Design & Marketing today.

We stay on top of industry trends and help your customers stay informed during this difficult time.

How the January 2020 Google Snippet Update Impacts Your Business

What You Need to Know About Google’s Featured Snippet Update

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On January 22, 2020, Google announced via Twitter that they have rolled out an important core algorithm update impacting the relationship between featured snippets and organic results. Naturally, this update announcement caused quite a bit of stir in the SEO community and sparked many questions.

What is a Google featured snippet?

Featured snippets, also known as answer boxes, are search results that appear in the very first position on a search results page (in a box) below any ads that may be present. This is also known as position zero.

The purpose of a featured snippet, from Google’s perspective, is to directly answer a user’s question or address their inquiry in the best way possible so that a user doesn’t need to keep searching. From an SEO perspective, “winning” a featured snippet gains you more visibility and likely traffic to your website.

The coveted position zero gives your brand and business more exposure should you be able to address an inquiry better than your competitors.

How did featured snippets work before the January 2020 update?

Even though Google announced the featured snippet update on January 22, it’s likely that the update began rolling out several days before.

Prior to the update, websites that earned a featured snippet also had their site appear in the organic results beneath the snippet if appropriate. This meant that websites could potentially score two spots on the first page of search results for a single inquiry or question from a user.

How will featured snippets work after the January 2020 update?

The purpose of the January update is to improve the user’s experience by removing duplicates from the search engine results. Websites that have a featured snippet for a specific inquiry, and appear in the organic results for that inquiry, now only hold on to their snippet and lose their organic result. Websites can no longer score two spots for a single inquiry or question from a user.

How does the January 2020 update impact me? Do I need to adjust my SEO strategy?

The change to featured snippets and organic results has understandably stirred up a lot of questions and panic amongst ecommerce business owners and website owners.

Because of the widespread prevalence and reliance on Google to find information, users have gotten used to its patterns and adjust their online behavior accordingly. For example, users are used to seeing advertisements directly above snippets and organic results. If users are disinterested in ads, they will scroll past them in order to reach the results they’re looking for. Some users even prefer to skip past the featured snippet and choose the first organic result to get a better understanding of the information they’re seeking out – even if the featured snippet and first organic result are the same.

If you owned a featured snippet and first organic result for a keyword, users who skipped over the snippet were likely still visiting your site anyway. However, because of the most recent update, you may not own the first organic result anymore. Your competitor may own it. So even though you have the best answer to someone’s question, your competitor may see more traffic.

Although this update means different things for different online businesses and websites, it’s likely going to require some re-evaluation at the very least. Because the update is so new and we are still studying the impacts, there are several strategies to consider.

Should I opt to deoptimize or tag my content with “nosnippet”?

Deoptimizing your content is definitely a risky move and we recommend discussing it with a specialist before committing to this strategy. If your content used to rank for both position zero and position one, and it would be better for your site to not hold the snippet, you could opt to lose your snippet in favor of hanging onto position one.

There are a few ways to do this. You could either apply a “nosnippet” meta tag to the content you no longer want to appear in position zero. A “nosnippet” tag means that your content won’t be included in the answer boxes, even if it’s a qualifying answer box winner. Or you could play around with keywords to try and lose the spot. The latter choice of course is riskier than the former. Intentionally losing the snippet through content rewrites, keyword research, and edits will be very time consuming and you could harm your organic rankings.

Deoptimizing and forfeiting the featured snippet feels and seems like the opposite of core SEO values and practices. It’s also likely a drastic measure to take in order to stabilize after the update. You’ll have to consider whether it’s better for you or your competitors to hold positions zero and one.

However, it’s very important to note that there are other strategies aside from rewriting your content or using the “nosnippet” tag to avoid position zero. You’re going to need to do some research to determine how well your snippet would perform in the organic search results should you implement a “nosnippet” tag.

The Google algorithms that determine how and why a website makes it to the top of the search results mostly focus on whether content provides a useful and valuable user experience. Does the content answer a question? Is the content easy to access and read? Is the inquiry addressed?

These are the guidelines that you can use to develop a more broad strategy towards acclimating to the January 2020 update. If you focus on the needs of your customers, clients, and users, and you’re actively providing them with the best online experience you can, you’re more likely to make Google happy as well.

To determine which strategy works best for you and your ecommerce business, we recommend reaching out to us for a free consultation today. We will take a look at your online traffic and performance to determine which move is the best for you.

Introducing Gboard: All the Power of Google Right From Your Phone’s Keyboard

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Google has done it yet again – they’ve created an ingenious, super convenient, all powerful app. Say hello to Gboard – Google’s newest iPhone keyboard app (sorry Android users, currently it’s only available on iOS at the moment). Gboard takes all the search capabilities Google offers and compresses them into a neat little package that lives in your phone’s keyboard. Search for images, addresses, GIFs, (even emojis!) right from the little Google icon – it’s literally one tap away.

gboard-2

We’re all familiar with the annoyances of having to switch apps all the time just to accomplish one silly task such as finding the perfect cat GIF to send your best friend. Previously, you would need to exit the texting app, open up Google, search for said GIF, save it, and then go back to the texting app to finally send it. Or what about looking up an address to send to your friend so you can meet up for dinner later? Same story – exit the texting app, open up Google maps, search for the address (and get the wrong one a few times), copy, go back to the texting app, paste, and THEN send. Pain in the butt right? Well, good news – Gboard eliminates all of that nonsense. Now you can find all the cat GIFs & restaurant addresses your little heart desires without ever leaving the texting app.

Simply tap the Google icon (right underneath your camera icon on the left) and enter whatever it is you’re searching for and the results will pop up right in your keyboard underneath the search bar. Think of your keyboard as your new direct portal to Google – convenient, fast, & simple. Think of all the possibilities! Think of all the time you’ll be able to save not having to switch between apps all the time. Plus, Gboard follows you into all of your apps – email, texting, YouTube, etc. It’s never been so easy to search & share information.

On top of all of the magic listed above, Gboard also offers the Swipe function, something iPhone owners previously have been forced to go without. Now you can type out a word in a single swipe instead of having to tap each little letter. But wait, there’s more! You can also search for emojis now instead of swiping right 500 times just to find that stupid little pizza emoji you know your brother loves. Now you can simply search ‘Pizza’ and the pizza emoji will pop up as the first result (to the left of the Predictive suggestions).

gboard-1-small

There are a few cons to this wonderful new app however. For one, there is no Ok Google built into the app so users who are accustomed to using that feature might not be too pleased. Also, if you’re not a big fan of Predictive Text being on then this app might be more of an annoyance than a blessing to you. Unfortunately Gboard only works with the Predictive Text function on and there is no way to shut it off. And the last one has already been touched on – currently it is only available through iOS which is eliminating a large portion of mobile users.

All you have to do to get this wonderful app is open up the App Store and download it. All of the instructions & details on how to set it up are within the app and it even links you to the correct places within your Settings so you don’t have to spend 10 minutes trying to find the right section. Go download it – you know you want to.

Still curious? Here are a few other articles all about Gboard:

Google Makes Major Shift on Search Results Pages

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You may not have noticed it, but Google made a major change to the way it displays search results. Google recently removed all pay-per-click ads from the right side of it’s search results pages. After more than ten years of Adwords pay-per-click results taking up both the top 1-3 spots and the entire right column being a long list of ads, this is a significant shift in how Google is going to provide “answers” to search queries.So why did Google remove a major source of revenue on the right column of its search results? The answer is almost certainly a result of testing and monetization. Google thinks it can provide a better user experience, and make more money, by using that space more wisely. But what is going to go there? To learn where Google is going, you have to be fully immersed in the world of all things Google. Luckily for you, that’s pretty much all we do. :)

Over the past few months, the team at Ventura Web Design has noticed that there are many queries that bring up a special box called a Knowledge Panel on the right with relevant info about your search. While the knowledge box itself is not new, how it displays specific information about medical searches is very interesting. Look at the results for “hay fever”:

You can now learn about symptoms and treatments directly on the search results page, without leaving Google. This content includes information from medical doctors about how common a condition is, whether it’s critical or contagious, typically affected age group(s), and more. The knowledge box includes tabs for an Overview, Symptoms, and Treatments for that ailment.
The information comes from a variety of sources, including the NIH, CDC, FDA, WHO, and more. Google has also partnered with organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, Apollo Hospitals, Lumiata, and VoxHealth. The source of the information in the past was quoted very prominently and the goal of Google was to help you go from Google Search Results to the website with the answer to your query. As you can see from the search result image above, that “goal” seems to have changed.

Even the knowledge box is styled and looks nothing like any other knowledge boxes. Google commissioned illustrations from licensed medical illustrators for use here. The colors and attention-grabbing layout differs greatly from what Google has provided in the past.

This is a major shift in Google’s philosophy. This layout shows the direction Google is heading: to a more display driven layout, rather than its historically text only layout. Remember when Google’s single goal was to get you OFF of their website and on to what you’re seeking? Google is now answering a question without linking away. But more importantly, Google is now in the content creation business. This is a major historic shift for the search leader. Think about that for a moment. Google is using the power of all the data it has access to, that you no longer have access to via Google Analytics, to guide its own decision making on content creation.

From the Google perspective, this new direction improves the user experience by providing “quality” answers even faster than before. Google’s stated mission is to answer the question you have, before you’ve even fully typed the question in to the search box (instant search (link:https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/186645?hl=en).

The knowledge box is a function of Google’s Knowledge Graph, which launched in May 2012. it’s used both by Google itself to improve search relevancy and also to present the knowledge boxes that provide facts about people, places and things alongside regular results. Google reports it has over 3.5 billion facts, including information about 500 million entities, including movies, museums, bodies of water, music, astronomical objects, buildings, sports, medical ailments, and more. Similar to how Google uses a link graph to model how pages are interlinked to and which are relevant for searches, it uses the knowledge graph to determine relationships between entities and report facts about them. If you currently have a knowledge graph card and want that information to change, you need to request a change from Google. Here is the link for more information on changing knowledge graph cards. (link: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/6325583?hl=en)

There is currently no mechanism to include yourself or your site as part of the Knowledge Graph. If you run a blog all about movies, there isn’t a way to be listed as a suggested source for information. Tagging information on your landing pages with rich snippets can be helpful in the long run, though it’s no guarantee of inclusion. This is where good SEO efforts can help. Your goal, as a website owner, is to have Google view your site as the leading authority of information on a particular topic. If Google determines that your topic is popular enough, it may create Knowledge Cards and include a link to your site or information in that card.

In an interview with Search Engine Land, the Google’s Former Head of Search, Amit Singhal, noted that the facts come from publicly available sources like Wikipedia, the CIA World Factbook, and Google Books. They also license data from other sources. “Whenever we can get our hands on structured data, we add it,” said Singhal. This is incredibly important to online store owners, as Google has said for years that structured data is important to being able to categorize product listings and display them in a relevant way. While knowledge boxes currently lack the ability to take action on most of their listings (you can learn about the Tower of London but there is no option to buy tickets to a tour), that functionality is coming. Amit recently left Google to pursue philanthropic efforts. (http://searchengineland.com/amit-singhal-the-head-of-google-search-to-leave…)
To make room for the knowledge box on selected queries, Google removed the ads on the right column. While this will limit the amount of adspace available and possibly drive up the cost of adwords campaigns, the side and bottom ads never did amount for the majority of click volume. According to a study of January 2016 desktop paid clicks by position, only 14.6% were from the side and bottom, so the change is not decreasing revenue by any appreciable amount, only ad impressions.
However, it does allow for more Google PLAs (Product Listing Ads) on the right column, which is a benefit for online stores that offer a product feed to Google Shopping. Also, if users grow to depend on Google being an authority rather than merely a portal, PLAs will be more trusted and therefore effective. Overall, this is a good move for Google, its users, and those that advertise on it.
Google Trusted Stores

How Can I Make My Store a Google Trusted Store

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Having the trust of consumers is very important for online retailers. There are a number of different ways to build trust for your store. Becoming a Google Trusted Store and displaying the Trusted Stores badge on your site goes a long way towards building trust with your potential customers.

Being accepted in the Google Trusted Store program and displaying the badge on your site lets consumers know that their orders are protected by Google for up to $1000, and they know Google will help in resolving any issues they have with your store.

Google doesn’t just let any online retailer display the Trusted Store badge; There are several requirements you will need to meet to earn that badge:

  1. Currently, the program is only available to US merchants
  2. The site’s content and customer support must be in English
  3. Merchants must process 600 orders on a 90-day rolling basis
  4. 90% of orders must be delivered on-time
  5. The Merchant must maintain a minimum 4 star rating on Google Trusted Stores customer survey and seller ratings over a 90-day rolling basis
  6. No more than 1 in 300 protected orders shall be escalated on a 90-day rolling basis
  7. It shall take on average no more than 4 calendar days for a merchant to resolve any issues
  8. If the annual payout of refunds paid by Google exceeds $5000 the client’s participation in the program may be suspended or terminated.

If you believe your store qualifies, head over to Google Trusted Stores to sign up for an account. Google will ask you several questions about your business. Once you answer all the questions you are ready to integrate the Google Trusted Store code into your site. Depending on the platform you use this could be relatively easy, both Yahoo! Stores and BigCommerce have built the code into their platforms, or may require more technical knowledge to integrate the code with your site.

Once the Trusted Store code is in place you need to test the code to make sure it is working correctly, Google gives you a special URL to test the code. If the code is working correctly, your store will enter the Trusted Stores qualification period. The qualification period can last anywhere from 30 – 90 days, depending on your order volume. During this time Google will monitor your store and the badge will not appear on your site. After the qualification Google will notify you whether your store passed and was accepted into the program. If it was the badge will automatically appear on the site.