Latest Algorithm Updates and How to Leverage It in The Post Pandemic World

Latest Google Algorithm Updates

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Latest Algorithm Updates and How to Leverage It in The Post Pandemic World

Google search engine is committed to providing quality content to its users, which is most relevant to their queries. In doing so, its algorithms have been constantly evolving to enhance the user experience.

This constant development calls for up-to-date actions from businesses to stay relevant and ahead of the competitors in the digital marketing world.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an economic upheaval and led to a comparatively bigger shift in SEO trends. We believe that the key to devising an effective marketing strategy is staying up-to-date with the latest trends and curating content accordingly. 

For this, we are listing down the important Google Algorithm Updates that are likely to impact how businesses will market their products and services online in the post-pandemic world. 

1. 100% mobile-first indexing update

Google recently rolled out a 100% mobile-first indexing update on March 2021. In simple words, it means that mobile-friendly websites will be more likely to rank higher on the SERP. 

This update was launched keeping in mind the increased mobile traffic, which has been on a constant rise since 2010. Google is placing more importance on mobile friendliness also because now more and more people browse the internet on their smartphones rather than a PC. 

The reason for the same could be attributed to the cheap and affordable smartphones that are now easily available in the market. 

edirect Tips to Keep Up

In order to make the most of this update, it is very important for you to work towards making the website mobile-friendly. The webmaster should primarily focus on mobile search engine optimisation by making the web design responsive. 

A responsive web design ensures the same user experience from a given URL irrespective of the device on which it is viewed. In addition to making the crawling more efficient, a responsive web design will also reduce the load time by avoiding unnecessary redirections. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that the SEO specific content such as titles, meta descriptions, and featured snippets must be written, keeping in mind the small screens of mobile phones and tablets.

It comprises tables within which the data is put in pre-defined categories. In each table, the columns generally have a data category, and rows have a certain data instance for the categories which are defined in the columns. It allows the viewer to control read/write access, specify report generation and analyse use.

Latest Google Algorithm Updates

2. Product Review Update

As the world was grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic, the physical reach of people became very limited in terms of where they could move. This brought about a significant shift in market structure towards digitalisation. 

More and more people adopted online shopping, and this called for an exhaustive description and first-hand review of the products. This is what led to the launch of the Product Review Update in April 2021, which is focused on revamping the online shopping experience of people.

This update aims to rank those sites better that offer all the necessary information regarding the product or service which is likely to influence the buying decision.

edirect Tips to Keep Up

In order to rank better, your website must have expertly written content that assures the customers of the quality of the product. While promoting the product, you should also focus on being honest about the attributes that are less lucrative but would influence the buying decision.

Honest descriptions of the product and service will help you earn the trust of the viewers, which is very important for successful marketing. 

The focus of your web content should be empowering the users to make informed purchasing decisions. For this, you must provide details about the product that are additional to the obvious stated by the manufacturer. 

To make it more competitive, you can provide quantitative measurements for performance and also draw a comprehensive comparison between two similar products.

3. MUM update 

The Multitask Unifying Model or MUM update is Google’s latest stride in Artificial Intelligence launched in May 2021. The objective of the MUM update is to improve Google’s understanding of the user’s search intent to provide more relevant responses. 

The new MUM model uses advanced Natural language processing technology called a T5 text-to-text framework along with other modern learning methods to better understand the intention behind a query. 

This weaponises the search engine to provide answers to more complex questions. It uses contextual information from various sources and combines them to present a simple, acceptable answer for the users. The update is designed to work in 75 different languages so that it can crawl information from resources in various languages.

It is a significant development in the SEO optimisation discipline as it threatens to kick out players who have been using the SEO loopholes cunningly. Keyword stuffing and other malpractices are now more easily identifiable and are likely to get scrutinised strictly.

edirect Tips to Keep Up

The MUM update is a piece of good news for all the businesses and professional digital marketing agencies that have been providing quality content already. As long as your content is adding value to the reader’s life, it will work perfectly well with the MUM update.

However, for better results, try to provide long-form content that covers the topic well, including the sub-topics and related concepts. Target more long-tail keywords that answer specific queries. 

“Find out what trends will be all the rage in 2021″

4. Page experience update 

Quality page performance has been on Google’s priority list since 2010. However, the new Page Experience Update is an improvement over the previous developments to enable the users to have a seamless browsing experience.

In the Page Experience Update launched in June 2021, Google has introduced three metrics that it will be using to measure the speed and overall performance of the web pages. These three metrics viz. Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) are together termed Core Web Vitals. 

The LCP metric measures the overall load time of the webpage by monitoring the time it takes for the largest block of visual content on the page to load. The next FID metric measures the responsiveness of the page and the last metric CLS measures the stability of the page.

edirect Tips to Keep Up

Please note that up keeping the web page performance requires technical proficiency, hence we recommend you outsource the work to a competent Digital Marketing agency. If your company is based in UAE, the best option would be edirect, which enjoys the reputation of being the best digital marketing agency in Dubai.

However, there are several options you can try out at your own level.

The first and the most important thing is to first analyse the problem pertaining to your website. For this, you will have to check the Page Speed Insights of your webpage on Google Console. If your score is good, sit back and relax. 

If the results are not favourable, get them resolved as soon as possible. Some generic tips to keep your page performance score good are: –
Always optimise and compress the images you use in the web articles.
Provide proper dimension for images and videos
Eliminate in-app marketing tools that block content.

5. Passage Ranking Update

The passage ranking update rolled out in February this year is sure to bring about a massive change in the algorithms that Google uses to serve relevant results to its users. Passage ranking is a more exhaustive ranking mechanism in which instead of ranking the entire web page, Google will be able to analyse and rank individual passages. 

It will entirely change the way Google sifts through and ranks long-form content. The new update enables the search engine to understand the context of each topic on a given web page and rank it accordingly. The objective of this update is, again, to provide hyper-relevant results to the users which could not be completely optimised. 

In Google’s words, “By understanding passages in addition to the relevancy of the overall page, we can find that needle-in-a-haystack information you’re looking for.”

By using artificial intelligence, Google can now index relevant passages as answers to the queries so that the user does not have to sift through lingering articles to get answers, similar to the featured snippets.

edirect Tips to Keep Up

In order to keep up with the passage ranking update, it is very important for you to create quality content that can be indexed by google as featured snippets. To leverage this update, you will have to target more long-tail keywords.

Another important tip that will help you, in the long run, is to do exhaustive SEO keyword research before working on your web content. This will help you understand the user intent, which is very important for curating quality content.

When you understand the intention of the user, you will be able to streamline your content accordingly. The keyword research will also help you develop a better understanding of the sub-keywords and other relevant topics you must cover to make your content more all-inclusive and valuable. 

Besides providing quality content, it is also important to structure your content meticulously.

Set your Marketing Game Right with our Team of Professionals

Google’s algorithms will keep modifying year after year. The updates should not affect you much so long as you are using the platform ethically and effectively. SEO is a very progressive strategy that, if utilised judiciously, can set you ahead of the competitors.

However, we do admit that there is a major technical aspect to Search Engine Optimisation that only an established professional can handle. With our experience of over a decade in digital marketing, we can proudly call ourselves the best digital marketing agency in Dubai.

We have a startling record of clients that are acing the digital marketing game and we would love to add you to the list.

To avail of our professional service, you can dial us on +971 545 866 866 or write to us at info@edirect.ae

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