{"id":27036,"date":"2020-03-04T10:57:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T18:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birdeye.com\/blog\/?p=27036"},"modified":"2024-10-18T03:29:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-18T10:29:02","slug":"google-changes-that-your-business-cannot-ignore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birdeye.com\/blog\/google-changes-that-your-business-cannot-ignore\/","title":{"rendered":"Google changes that your business cannot ignore<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before we start talking about some of the most significant Google changes of the past few years, let\u2019s take a moment to recognize how important Google\u2019s search engine is for your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google\u2019s search engine plays a key role not only in how customers find you online but in how you stand out versus your competition. This is why whenever the Google search algorithm goes through changes, it makes news. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s go back to 2020 to see what kicked off the recent batch of changes. In early 2020, Google made a core update. Danny Sullivan, Google\u2019s Public Search Liaison, tweeted about the update. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, \u201cWe (Google) do updates all the time.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While it\u2019s true that small changes happen throughout the year, to the tune of 3000 per year or more,this update was larger and once again revealed that changes to the Google search engine can have a major impact on your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a business owner, you need to update your knowledge of how the search engine works by keeping up with Google changes. SEO in 2024<\/a> will be all about your site\u2019s E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience-Expertise-Authoritativeness-Trustworthiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, for your content to rank high in search, you need to be an expert on the topic, able to speak with authority, and trustworthy. Sounds easy, right? If the content on your site abides by these three rules, you have nothing to worry about.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that\u2019s easier said than done. It starts with understanding the changes. So, before you hit the keyboard to work on your content, let\u2019s understand some of the last half-decade of Google Changes and what you, as a business owner, need to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes in the Google search algorithm<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Google\u2019s search engine is constantly evolving and getting smarter. In late 2019, Google updated its algorithm based on BERT (or bidirectional encoder representations from transformers). BERT uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and a massive data set to help understand what people are searching for. Where a few years ago, it only caught keywords in search, today the search engine also understands relevancy. Each update and change makes the algorithm smarter. This is so that the search engine better understands the end user\u2019s (your customers) search intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pandu Nayak, Google VP of research, said “This is the single biggest … most positive change we’ve had in the last five years and perhaps one of the biggest since the beginning.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this change mean for your business? <\/strong>
Just stuffing your content with keywords won\u2019t achieve good results. BERT is reading your content closely to understand how well your content matches with search intent. Work on creating top-quality content for your customers, and not for the search engine. If your content is genuinely providing value, it will rank.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What about “local” and “near me\u2019 searches?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Studies show that 92% of customers<\/a> choose businesses on the first page of search results. Google said that the number of mobile searches checking for local businesses grew by over 250% between 2017 and 2019. According to Google changes, there are three factors that matter when it comes to \u2018near me\u2019 searches: distance, prominence, and relevance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this change mean for your business? <\/strong><\/gwmw>
Keep your listings accurate and consistent across the web. Adding information and keywords helps Google understand relevance. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reviews, reviews, reviews: No such thing as too many reviews<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Reviews<\/a> will continue to have an important influence on the ranking of the website. Businesses with positive reviews will continue to rank higher in regular and local searches. Websites that get reviews and comments will also rank higher in searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this change mean for your business? <\/strong>
Google places a high value on user-generated content, which also includes reviews. Respond and interact with your customers in comment sections, get regular reviews and monitor listings \u2014 Google is paying attention (as are your future customers).  <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Think of the bigger Schema of things<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, schema helps search engines understand what content is present on a page. SEO experts swear by Schema.org<\/a> and your in-house SEO guy will agree that it is extremely helpful in getting those SEO results. Schema helps Google understand if there is a list or a survey or an image on a page so that it brings up the appropriate search results. ThenGoogle announced that starting from April 6, 2020, it will go all-in with Schema.org and will no longer support data-vocabulary markup (another type of code) for rich results.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this change mean for your business? <\/strong>
Start using Schema in your relevant pages, if you don\u2019t already do so. It will help you get traffic.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n