Welcome to another recap of our SEO news. In this edition, we cover the impact of the latest Google core update, image thumbnail optimization tips, simplified Search Console reports, recent Page Experience updates, and other interesting reads you shouldn't miss!
Analysis of the May 2022 Google core update
Have you been impacted by the latest Google Core Update? Marie Haynes analyzed the results and summarized patterns amongst sites that did well. It really seems that sites focusing on the way that content is presented are the main winners.
- Real world expertise for the topic
- Well structured pages with good use of headings and easily skimmable content
- Trustworthy and truly valuable content
Check out this in-depth analysis to know what to do if you've been negatively impacted by the May 2022 core update.
Want to know how Google search rolls out algorithmic updates? Check this video where John Mueller discusses the process of rolling out algorithmic updates together with some valuable insights.
5 proven ways to increase your Google rankings
Optimizing your website from an SEO perspective can be overwhelming as there are so many factors you need to consider. Chuck Price highlighted 5 basics that will help you improve your rankings on Google.
- Perform a technical SEO audit
- Deliver a great page experience
- Let Google know what your content is about
- Optimize for search intent
- Optimize your internal link structure
Google image thumbnails for organic results
Image thumbnails in search results are a fantastic way to provide users with more information about your website or products. However, they don't appear for all sites in search. Brodie Clark published this useful guide on Google image thumbnails with actionable tips for troubleshooting image thumbnail issues and shared some valuable insights.
Brodie recommends looking at 8 different areas to troubleshoot the multi-image thumbnail treatment:
- Disable JavaScript to see if images load on your site
- Assess image quality
- Ensure that the images are relevant to the query
- Add alt text
- Optimize product titles
- Review the number of images on the page – having more than 8 images on your page that qualify for the multi-image thumbnail treatment is crucial
- Check the sequence of your images' appearance
- Explore what the background of images looks like
Reviewing these eight different areas in detail will help you figure out common image thumbnail issues.
Image source: Brodie Clark
Simplified Search Console reports
Google Search Console simplified the way they classify pages, items, and issues in reports.
Google now groups all website issues into two different groups: pages or items with critical issues that are labeled as ‘invalid’ or ‘valid’. This new grouping will help users prioritize their website fixes.
Check out the image below for more details:
Image source: Google Search Central Blog
A new look for Google News
Google News is currently available in over 125 countries and 40 different languages. To help people discover all important stories and easily find local news, Google launched a redesigned and customizable Google News experience for desktop.
Image Source: Google
The State of Link Building Report 2022
The third annual edition of the State of Link Building is live now! It covers everything about how we build links: techniques and tools, measurement and reporting, the impact of link building, and more! Learn what tactics and techniques are most popular right now by reading the report here.
Twitter tests long-form text feature called 'Notes'
Twitter Write is a new composer tool that allows creators to create stories and different types of long-form content. A small group of users in Canada, the United States, Ghana, and the United Kingdom now have access to Notes as part of the testing phase. They can currently write up to 2,500 words.
In addition, Notes will have unique URLs that users can navigate to from anywhere, whether they are logged in to Twitter or not. If Twitter also integrates newsletters into this new feature, it could potentially compete with other popular platforms too!
Google Page Experience updates
Last month, we also attended the SEOday 2022 conference, where John Mueller also discussed recent Google search updates, Search Console and other recent changes. He also talked about Page Experience and Core Web Vitals. Google now shows desktop search results data on a page desktop page experience, and the same for mobile search results and site's mobile experience.
Google has also recently added a new page experience metric called Interaction to Next Paint (INP). It's an experimental metric that is not a part of Core Web Vitals. It measures overall responsiveness to user interactions on the page. Mueller expressed that it is not a ranking factor directly, but it is currently being discussed as something that may play a role in the future.
#SEOday: Name one factor to optimize for in search. What would it be and why?
John Mueller: The main one would be making sure that you have the keyword targeting right for your pages. That you are targeting something that actually makes sense for your audience.
Marketing Miner news
How to set up Google Analytics 4 – a complete guide
Not sure how to set up Google Analytics 4 yet? We’ve put together a complete guide to help you get started! Universal Analytics will cease and stop working on July 1, 2023 and the new version, Google Analytics 4 doesn’t import any historical data. For this reason, there is no time to waste! The sooner you add GA4, the more historical data you will be able to access, and the more time you will have to familiarize yourself with the reports.
Marketing Miner has launched on Product Hunt
Last week, we launched Marketing Miner on Product Hunt, and we would like to thank all of our users who have given us invaluable feedback. We couldn't have done it without all your support. Thanks to your love, Marketing Miner was the 4th Product of the day!
