We took care to make it easier for our readers to do this with this summary of the Google algorithm updates. In today’s overview, we’ll elaborate on the main Google algorithm updates of the year and estimate their impact on your SEO strategy.
Keep reading to stay updated on the key SEO changes and tips for optimizations.
What Happened to Google Algorithm in 2021?
We’ve already written about the new opportunities and challenges presented by the Google Analytics 4 version in one of the previous articles. The continuous changes in the Google algorithm represent the tendency to make search results more personalized and SEO ranking rather quality-based than mechanical.
How were the Google algorithm updates received and what do they mean for your SEO strategy? Let’s zoom in on the main changes and the opportunities they give.
Passage Ranking Update
Introduced on February 11, 2021, the Passage Ranking Update became the new way of ranking long pieces of content by their structure. With the update, Google understands the page’s content better and ultimately helps provide a better user experience by populating SERPs with better answers and other kinds of the most relevant results. Different passages of the same article could be ranked separately. In this way, convenience for the user is achieved: now the search result includes not only articles with the title by the query but also articles where the query corresponds to the most relevant piece of content.
About This Result
The information box with such a name appeared to provide users with more information about the sources they are interacting with. It’s an attempt to give additional context and details about each website using the data from Wikipedia. Google also helps match the language and applies relevant geographic locations to provide the users with the best results.
To increase the likelihood that users will find your resources promptly, research search terms and enrich pages with keywords from them as well as with relevant terms. Use geolocation to reach the audience nearby. “About this result” Google algorithm Update started from English-language results in the USA and keeps spreading to other languages and geography.
Product Reviews Update
Since April 8, 2021, product reviews in the search results appear according to their relevance. Google Search Center announced the update with the advice to content creators: to check if their reviews contain helpful information, including:
- Expert knowledge,
- Unique product usage descriptions,
- Explanations about what sets the product apart from the competitors,
- Research results,
- Quantitative measurements,
- Comparison.
The update is the guide to shopper-related information to change towards understandability and necessity for the potential buyers. Even without in-depth research, we can say that many marketers will have to work hard on the content. This is a great opportunity for stores to add that unique touch to every product page.
Ecommerce sites have been waiting for this unique type of content to be added, but be cautious of duplicating manufacturers’ product descriptions.
