Experts estimate that Google changes its search algorithm 500 to 600 times a year. That’s between once and twice daily. The changes don’t always alter the SEO landscape, but some updates may affect your search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.
Hence, getting a professional Core Web Vitals consultation is crucial for your business. Core Web Vitals was introduced by Google in May 2020 to help website owners monitor their websites’ overall health. It measures factors such as speed, responsiveness, and visual stability. Since Google favors fast-loading websites, monitoring the core web vitals will allow you to see if your website’s speed still meets Google’s standards.
But of course, you need more than a fast and responsive website to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs.). Your content matters as much. But because Google frequently changes its search algorithm, using the same SEO tactics over and over may change your ranking in just days.
Even if the changes don’t always affect the SEO landscape, your website’s ranking can still fall if you don’t keep track of the updates. But there’s something better than simply staying updated: It’s staying ahead.
While it’s impossible to predict what Google will change at a given time, you may recognize patterns and use some tools like Google Analytics and Semrush. So, without further ado, here’s how to stay ahead of Google’s SEO updates:
1. Check Your Website’s Traffic Every Day
If your business gets most of its sales from online orders, check your website’s traffic every day. Don’t check it only when you post new content or launch a new product. Receiving many online orders doesn’t automatically mean your SERP is high. Maybe you offer cheaper products than your competitors, attracting customers to your site even if you only rank third or lower.
Google Analytics will help you monitor your website’s traffic. It will show you where your web visitors come from and the search term that led them to your site. For example, if your website is based in Utah, Google Analytics will show if your web visitors are from Utah or another state. Remember, we’re talking about web visitors, not the customers who buy products from your site. You can have web visitors from another country because of a search term that led them to your website.
Search terms refer to keywords. Google Analytics will show you a list of keywords web users type in search engines, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN, AOL, and international ones like Baidu and Naver. When you see the keywords with the most searches, you should post content related to those keywords. They should appeal to web visitors all over the world. That’s how you keep driving traffic to your site.
2. Publish High-quality Content
Google favors websites with high-quality, valuable content. So, don’t settle for mediocre content that involves top-ranking keywords. For example, if the keyword that leads to your website is “winter jackets for sale,” create a winter outfit page with professionally-taken photos, complete product descriptions, and a user-friendly order form. Google will recognize that content as valuable, making it rank high on SERPs.
Consider other keywords, too. Some websites are optimized based on more than 50,000 search terms. People use different keywords even if they’re looking for the same thing. For example, “winter jackets for sale” can be searched as “winter jackets for sale online,” “where to buy winter jackets online,” or “best winter jacket brands.”
Creating high-quality content for different organic keywords will allow you to increase organic traffic, a cost-effective way to optimize your website.
3. Offer a Positive Page Experience
Offer a positive page experience even if you can’t provide what a user looks for. Google recently rolled out its Page Experience update, penalizing websites that provide unsatisfactory experiences.
Users enjoy websites that load fast, display high-quality images and other media, and offer engaging content. Such websites should be compatible with all devices, such as PCs, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches. Moreover, they should be free of security issues and intrusive ads.
Your website can improve its user experience through the following:
- Check Core Web Vitals
- User-friendliness on all devices
- Employing cybersecurity measures
- HTTPS usage in the URL
- Limiting disrupting ads
4. Repurpose Your Content
If you’re running out of content ideas, you can repurpose the content you already posted. For example, turn a blog post into a podcast. If Google sees that you publish content on multiple platforms—in this case, Spotify or Apple Podcasts—it will consider your content helpful, thereby boosting its ranking on SERPs.
Creating videos, infographics, guest blogs, and educational content will also help optimize your site. Post them on a consistent schedule to allow Google to keep detecting new content from your website.
These clever techniques will help you manipulate the algorithm to your advantage. Don’t forget to enlist professional help; navigating SEO can be tricky.
