First of all: Happy New Year !!!
We have finally left behind this year that seemed so round, that it was going to go down in history.
And well, in fact it has been ... although not as we expected.
While a good part of the market sectors had to forcibly stop production due to the COVID-19 pandemic, others had to continue adding coal to the machinery to keep things going during all these months.
Obviously, Google is one of those that has continued to advance and grow at full speed.
Their huge business must continue, and with it the many updates they apply to their algorithms throughout the year. Updates, such as Core Updates, which in one way or another will affect search results and as a consequence, the focus of our Ads campaigns.
So let's review what those changes have been!
1. GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES IN 2020
1.1. GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES IN 2020 (Core Updates)
The Core Updates introduce a series of significant changes in the algorithms that are in charge of ordering the search results, causing various websites to experience losses or positioning improvements with their implementation.
And what criteria vary with each update?
The truth is that Google does not give much information about which algorithm criteria will be affected, which leads us to draw our own conclusions about its behavior through data analysis and contrast.
You know how jealous Google is with these things!
On the other hand, they do notify with an official announcement of the dates on which it will be implemented, which at least makes us be attentive to any change in our results.
Thus, in 2020 we have experienced 3 main Core Updates:
- January 2020: The first major update started rolling out on January 13, apparently focusing on tuning the algorithm's trust towards mobile-optimized domains.
- May 2020: Although it was speculated that Google would not bring major changes to its system during the extraordinary pandemic problem it was facing, it came with more force than that of January.
This more than outstanding main update was implemented from May 4 to May 18 and its changes seemed to especially mark the YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) type pages, which cover health, financial or legal topics.
In addition, new highlights began to be shown in the SERPs to improve user search results, such as modules for images and videos, also giving more weight to local results. - December 2020: His announcement after the Black Friday / Cyber Monday period, and before the start of the Christmas campaigns, was harshly criticized in some sectors that had to quickly reconfigure their campaigns to adapt to the new system.
It was implemented between December 4 and 16 and its changes were greater than those of May, affecting the first Google SERP results, especially on pages where respecting the EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is essential, such as those related to the world of care and health.
1.2. BERT will apply to all inquiries in English
Do you remember BERT?
Apart from being one of the characters in Sesame Street, BERT is also the acronym for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, one of the most important improvements to the Google algorithm, implemented in 2019.
Its function is to interpret the use of language in search queries in a more natural way, such as, for example, taking into account the context of certain keywords, thus offering a broader response system more in line with the search intention.
Well, while originally the BERT system was configured to affect 10% of searches, during 2020 it has started to affect practically all queries in English, so we will have to take into account the new forms of search of users so that our content satisfies those queries.
1.3. Indexing of passages
Another introduction from Google in 2020 during its SearchOn event, was the presentation of the Indexing of Passages.
But be careful because the term has created some confusion:
Although Google called it "indexing", this does not mean that it will start indexing only certain sections of the page, but rather it is an additional way to classify content in search results, showing the passages that best respond to the queries of the users. users.
Its implementation is expected in early 2021 and will affect 7% of searches globally, so stay tuned!
1.4. Google Page Experience
May came with many surprises from Google, and one of them was the major announcement of Google Page Experience for its rollout in May 2021.
These are new factors of evaluation and classification of the experience of the page, among which are included the so-called Core Web Vitals (loading speed, time of first interaction of the user and visual stability), in addition to others such as compatibility with mobile devices, running on HTTPS, or whether or not it has intrusive content.
And to the parrot, because it will be accompanied by a visual indicator in the search results, which will highlight the pages that meet the quality of experience sought.
1.5. Google Maps
Let's not forget about Google Maps and the new sections of activity and information on health precautions related to the safe management of anti-COVID-19 measures.
What's more, Google Duplex AI technology has been used to call more than three million businesses to update details such as store hours and "in-store" and "to-go" options in search results and Maps.
This is further proof that Artificial Intelligence is taking more and more ground.
So whether or not this point is well covered for the reliability of the site, it can make a difference for the Google algorithm to decide to raise or lower you in the search results ranking.
2. Conclusion
2.1. What can we expect from Google Alhgorithm in 2021?
To begin with, we look forward as always to the continuous and uncertain Core Updates throughout the year.
Taking into account that in general, they tend to occur approximately every three months (except for the December update that was delayed in 7 months) and we only have a mere notice from Google, it is best to be attentive to any changes that may occur. go giving in the results of our web and draw our own conclusions to solve it in the best possible way.
The other option is to draw lots and gamble that an update knocks down all our efforts in one fell swoop. And time is money!
On the other hand, we do have more information for the implementation of Ticket Indexing, scheduled for these first months of 2021 and Google Page Experience in May, so we can anticipate to have our content prepared then.
Let us also remember that Google will definitely implement Mobile First indexing for the month of March, causing the disappearance of many non-Responsive websites from the indexes of search results in Google.
That your Landing Page are not the ones that disappear!
2.2. You decide how to respond to these changes
At least something is clear:
Google will continue to close the fence more and more within which we will have no choice but to play its game and its rules.
And it is also clear how important and necessary it is to be up to date on all the points that must be taken into account so that your Ads campaigns come to fruition and do not become a hole in your pocket.
Therefore, I would like to tell you that at Quarizmi, we focus on solving this problem:
We work with our own artificial intelligence tools to manage your Ads campaigns completely automatically.
You can put aside all those headaches and investment of time, while your campaigns use the advantages of automation to grow constantly.
Take a look here and contact us if you think we can help you improve your day to day with Ads management
For now, I hope that all this information helps you to establish your Ads strategies and that your campaigns respond in the best possible way to the comings and goings of Google.
But hey anyway… enjoy the trip with your eyes wide open!
JOS (without E)
