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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.

COVID-19 Phishing Attacks

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Use caution when opening emails from WHO, the CDC, and other health organizations

COVID-19 has us looking to the news and important health organizations for information about this pandemic. Sadly, many online criminals, also known as cybercriminals, are taking advantage of this situation and phishing attempt and attacks are on the rise.

Since the intensity of the coronavirus spread has grown, there has been an increase of phishing attempts posing as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and/or other relevant health organizations. Here’s a list of guidelines you can follow to protect yourself and stay safe online.

Never Give Out Your Personal Information

Generally speaking, it’s best to avoid sharing personal information online. Things like pet names, social security numbers, and bank account information can be used against you in a phishing attack to steal your identity and leave you in financial distress.

Many of us are facing layoffs, gaps in revenue, or looking to unemployment for financial assistance. It’s important to protect your personal information to protect yourself from even more financial uncertainty. Legitimate organizations and companies won’t ask you to verify sensitive information via email.

Verify The Email Address Domain

A straightforward way to help you determine the legitimacy of an email is to look at the domain of the sender’s email address. Usually you can do this simply by hovering your mouse over the address. Then, you can verify that the email was sent from a legitimate and familiar source.

Because of our widespread unemployment uncertainty and remote work, some hackers may disguise themselves as an employee’s HR representative. They may claim that staff must read and agree to a new COVID-19 health policy or have information about layoffs. If this information is sent to you by an unfamiliar source and the domain looks different, get in contact with your employer to ensure you are opening and responding to a legitimate message.

Be Sure Before You Click and Download

If you’re receiving files or links from an unverified source, it’s recommended that you think before you click or download. The best rule of thumb is, if you aren’t sure, follow your gut feeling and avoid it. Links and downloads can lead to different types of viruses and malware that can expose personal information and give access to sensitive accounts to cybercriminals.

Phishing attacks will try to take advantage of your need for information and possibly your drive to help others. This may be in the form of a link or file claiming to contain a list of new coronavirus cases or other relevant information such as disinfection methods.

Email with attachment

Identity Thieves Want You To Download Files

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself whether you have an account with this company, or whether you know the person who is sending you the email. If you don’t know who they are or you don’t have an account with them, don’t open the file or click any links in the email. If you do know who sent you the email, or have an account, contact them directly using a phone number you know to be real. Confirm they sent you this message before downloading or clicking.

Use Trusted Sources like WHO and the CDC

When looking for the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus pandemic, be sure to use trusted and well-known sources like WHO and the CDC. If you choose to visit unfamiliar and untrustworthy websites, you increase the risk of picking up malware.

It is possible to pick up an Exploit Kit (a method of delivering malware to attack bank account information and more) from a website, even if you have antivirus and anti-malware protection.

Update Your Phone’s Software Regularly

Mobile software updates typically include important security components as well. By updating your phone’s software regularly, you are actively increasing your personal security and protecting yourself from phishing attempts. Be sure to take advantage of automatic software updates so you don’t miss out on any important changes and security features.

Staying Safe & Aware

If you think you’ve already been impacted by a phishing attempt, visit IdentifyTheft.gov for information about what to do. If you’ve recently received phishing attempts, you can visit the FTC’s website to issue a complaint and file a report.

It’s more important than ever to stay safe, both physically and virtually. Use these guidelines to help you protect yourself from phishing attacks. By having healthy online habits, you can feel a little more at ease during these difficult and trying times.

RetailX 2020 Cancelled

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The cancellation of this year’s conference has been officially announced

The RetailX Internet retailer conference typically held in June each year has been officially cancelled. Commonly referred to as the largest tradeshow for online sellers, this year’s event has been cancelled due to health concerns over COVID-19.

IRCE, now known as RetailX, typically takes places in early summer at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, IL.

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.

The Importance of ADA Website Accessibility Compliance

The Importance of ADA Website Accessibility Compliance

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You care about your business and you care about who is visiting you online to learn more. It’s important to consider how your potential clients and customers are using your website so you can improve their experience.

By thinking about who is visiting you online, you can better accommodate their needs and make sure each individual has reasonable accessibility to your site. This is where ADA compliance comes in and why it’s so important.

What is ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is celebrating its 30th birthday this year in 2020! The ADA was enacted in order to protect individuals with disabilities from discrimination. This ensures that businesses, employers, etc. are held to a set of standards in order to prevent discrimination based on ableness, and make sure that environments are accessible.

The act contains several different titles, each of which prohibit and outline discrimination in specific ways. These include but are not limited to: employment, state and local governments, public transportation, public areas, and public telecommunications.

Why is website accessibility important?

Adopting ADA best practices with respect to your website or e-commerce site improves your customer’s experience with your business and ensures accessibility. Accessibility in this case refers to addressing the needs of individuals who may be using your site, and who may also have a visual or auditory (or other) disability or limitation.

Accounting for accessibility makes it easier for individuals to navigate your site and consume content. For example, adjusting the contrast of the text and background colors of your website makes it easier for individuals who are colorblind to read your articles or product descriptions.

Is ADA compliance mandatory? What could happen if my website is non-compliant?

ADA compliance can be punishable by law. Non-compliance may be enforced through several channels such as litigation by a private citizen, litigation by the federal government, and/or investigations based off of complaints made to federal agencies.

The number of web accessibility lawsuits appears to be growing. Target, Amazon, and even Beyoncé are among some of the more well-known cases. ADA website accessibility cases nearly tripled from 2017 to 2019. If you aren’t compliant with the ADA website standards, you not only are neglecting a valuable percentage of potential customers and clients, but you also open yourself up to a lawsuit.

What are some of the guidelines to follow for my website?

Interestingly enough, by improving your website’s web accessibility, you’re also improving your website’s SEO. Your general goal is to make your website as user-friendly as possible to as many users as possible.

You’re going to want to pay attention to the way you’re writing and how that text is presented.

  • Headings and titles should appropriately describe the published content
  • Recognize who will be reading your content and adjust your style as necessary
  • Avoid giant walls of text and use a bulleted list (just like this one!)
  • Use colors and formats to break up the text

Pay attention to visual elements, other than plain text, on each page of your website

  • Use alternative text, or alt text, to describe images (or buttons, logos, etc.) so that individuals with visual impairments can use a screen reader to read the descriptive text aloud
  • Provide transcriptions, descriptions, captions, and narrations for video content
  • If you’re using tables, make sure to label the columns correctly
  • Avoid using PDFs as they can’t be read by screen reading software

Take a look at your site navigation as well

  • Ensure your site can be navigated by using a keyboard, as well as a mouse or trackpad
  • Include “Skip Navigation” links at the top of each page so that individuals may jump to the beginning of the main content

What about the social media accounts for my business?

There are several ways to improve accessibility for your social media accounts as well

  • Use alt text to describe the images you’re posting (Facebook, Instagram, and other social media giants allow you to do this)
  • Follow the same rules about video content on your social media as you do for your website (i.e. transcriptions, descriptions, captions, and narrations)
  • Think about your use of emojis, if you use them at all, as if they were being read aloud to you
  • Doing this: #VenturaWebDesign is better than doing this: #VENTURAWEBDESIGN

Please keep in mind that the lists above are simplified. For a more complete list, we suggest visiting ADA.gov.

How can I make SURE my website is in compliance?

Aside from auditing your own website against the ADA.gov web accessibility best practices and guidelines, there are other ways to ensure you’re in compliance

  • Use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to take an in-depth look at your website
  • Take advantage of free online tools such as Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (WAVE). You can install WAVE as a browser or extension, which you can then run against webpages to determine their level of accessibility
  • Hire a professional to audit and improve your online business so you don’t have to do any guesswork

ADA compliance is an important part of digital marketing and the online world. We know that you value ADA standards because you also value your customers and audience. By improving accessibility, you’re improving the experience for anyone who visits your e-commerce site.

Here at Ventura Web Design and Marketing, we have quality experience improving and establishing ADA website accessibility compliance. Click here for a free consultation today.

This publication is not intended to be legal advice or to replace the advice of a competent attorney.  While Ventura Web Design aims to help your website be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible, we make no guarantees of 100% accessibility, nor do we make any claims that our work or advice will be suitable for your specific purposes or needs.

Tech News with Kevin Richards

Tech News with Kevin Richards – 2/17/16

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On this weeks episode of Tech News with Kevin Richards, Ventura Web Design CEO, Kevin Richards, discusses JebBush.com pointing to Donald Trump’s website, Domain Registration, Twitter shadow banning content, and CEO Tim Cook’s letter to Apple customers regarding the FBI’s request for an iPhone security workaround.

Tech News with Kevin Richards

Tech News with Kevin Richards – 12/8/15

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Join Kevin Richards and Alan Stock as they discuss all things tech. From Google suggesting an algorithm that can understand sentiment and disrupt terrorism, to Apple’s latest product announcement. Kevin Richards is the founder and CEO of Ventura Web Design, an e-commerce design and marketing agency.