Upgrades to Algorithms, Page Experience, Analytics, and Google My Business
Search industry giant Google is releasing a wide array of enhancements, including algorithm upgrades, a Google page experience update, a spam algorithm update, changes to the popular Google My Business product, and improvements to Google Analytics.
Algorithm Updates
Google typically releases an improved algorithm every couple of months, but the search industry leader hadn’t updated its core algorithm in nearly six months—until now. It appears that the upgrade will be a significant one, as Google has opted to roll it out over two months. According to industry watchers, some of the enhancements are not yet to a point where the company feels comfortable releasing them, prompting the two-part release.
Google initiated the new algorithm rollout on June 2 and completed part one on June 12. The enhancements are global, affecting all languages. Though Google provided no specifics regarding the nature of the changes to the algorithm, the company indicated that the changes should not affect most websites. They also cautioned SEO specialists to wait until the second part of the upgrade is fully implemented to assess impact, as some sites may see changes in June that will be reversed in July.
The Google Page Experience Update
Google uses its “page experience” product to determine whether website users will have a “good experience” with your pages. If, according to the page experience criteria, Google concludes that web visitors will have a poor experience, your rankings may be downgraded. The page experience criteria include the speed and usability of your site and also take into account how mobile-friendly your pages are. You can receive a boost for HTTPS and a penalty for unsafe browsing. However, Google insists that even if a page experience is suboptimal, content remains king and a web page can still rank well with great content.
Analytics Updates
Last October, Google implemented the most significant retooling of Google Analytics in nearly 10 years. This month’s upgrades build on that rollout, with many of the changes enhancing user privacy. According to Google, one of the primary objectives of the privacy upgrade is to allow SEO personnel to track customer visits without the use of cookies. The rollout also offers ways to preserve conversion data when cookies are not available.
Advances Made to Google My Business
If you’ve searched on Google in the last few weeks, you may have seen a blue megaphone just before the text on the search engine results page, with the label “New on Google.” That’s a new feature currently being tested by Google in an effort to keep online searchers from continually getting the same results when searching for businesses in a specific neighborhood. Don’t be surprised, though, if you don’t see it on the majority of your searches—there may simply be no new businesses for Google to report. It’s a great tool if you’re keeping track of competition in your neighborhood or within a larger geographic area.
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