Search engine optimization is one of the things that constantly changes, which for any small business, is very frustrating. Ultimately, you want to connect with customers simply and make sure that you are on top of the dreaded algorithm. But when you find that your search engine ranking slips down in the space of a few months, it can be very frustrating. But do you know the latest SEO updates? If not, we are going to guide you through them now and also just make sure that you are on top of a couple of simple things.
A BERT update
Standing for Bi-directional Encoder Representations from Transformers, this is the technique Google uses for NLP (Natural Language Processing). This is very useful for Google to understand the context of words and certain nuances in searches which helps to match queries with the most relevant results. While this may seem like something a language specialist needs to do, but it’s something that SEO agencies like UnravelSEO.com can help you through.
An Update to Site Diversity
It’s great for your website if you have two or more of your pages popping up on the first page of the search engine results, but there has been a crackdown. The Site Diversity update has limited the number of domains appearing with numerous URLs in the Search Engine Result Page (SERP). This is why you need to focus on incorporating good quality SEO techniques to ensure that your page remains relevant to the individual searching for it.
Broad Core Algorithm Changes
This is, generally speaking, an upgrade to the overall algorithm on Google. Because this is an update used to understand users’ search queries easier, the things you can do to make sure that you are keeping on top of this are the usual things: create quality content, send the right social signals, and continue to build backlinks. As broad core updates aren’t done as regularly as the smaller algorithm changes when they are updated, they incorporate a lot of new features into the algorithm. This is why your website can slip down the ranks quickly.
Maverick Update
While Google makes a lot of small changes every year, this update hasn’t resulted in massive changes in the overall search scenario. But it is important to understand that it can impact types of queries and industries. So if you are in a niche industry, the Maverick Update may impact you greater than other businesses.
Changes in Google Mobile Speed
Page speed has always been a ranking factor in search engine results. As Google has rolled out this update by making page speed a significant ranking factor for mobile phones now, this is crucial for you to check your page loading time on mobile sites. According to Google, if a page load time increases from 1 to 10 seconds, this can result in a bounce rate of 120%, which can affect the rankings greatly. The average time for a website to load on mobile should be 3 seconds at most. Checking your website page loading speed is essential for this reason alone.
Simple Ways to Improve Your Ranking
Search engine optimization changes so much, and as a result, it can mean that we fall behind the times somewhat. But there are still some common components that we all need to learn and remember to use on a regular basis:
1. Relevant content
This is still the number one driver of search engine rankings. Learning to make your content stand out is an ongoing practice. But there are some great resources out there. The Heidicohen.com website provides a handful of items to make your content stand out. Content that incorporates your keywords naturally will result in a better ranking. And when you focus on the best ways to incorporate keywords, focusing on short-tail ones will make for more natural content, but the long-tail keywords will be better for rankings in the long run.
2. Using alt tags
Alt tags, or alternative text descriptions, help search engines to locate your page. There are so many different methods to help you rank, but if you describe your video and visual media using alt tags, this is very useful for those who use screen readers or text-only browsers.
3. Updating your content regularly
The great thing about updating your content regularly is that it doesn’t require much change. Removing or adding a sentence here and there, or changing the title or just removing a picture and replacing it with a different one, is enough to refresh your content. But it’s a good idea for you to get into the habit of auditing your content on a regular basis. You may want to think about incorporating additional functions, especially now that many blogs are incorporating a read-aloud function.
4. Creating relevant links
Ensuring that your website is full of relevant links that are rich with keywords will improve your search engine ranking. Make sure that you use descriptive links by linking keywords. This doesn’t just add value to your SEO, but it will add value to your readers. Individuals who are sight-impaired may need descriptive links to improve their user experience.
If you panic every time Google unveils a change to its ranking algorithm, it’s partly to do with being aware of the changes but also make sure that you know what to do just to keep yourself ahead of the curve. In many ways, search engine optimization can be a time-consuming task. But as time has gone on, there have been so many resources to help individuals improve their website and their abilities to rank that it’s something your business can outsource if necessary. It’s partly to do with having some knowledge in-house and also guaranteeing that when your business is doing everything it can to maintain relevance that search engine optimization is one of the most important markers of ranking high. Some things have changed over the last year, but some things haven’t. It’s vital to be aware of these.
