Google recently updated its core algorithms and it is a good news for all the people who have been paying attention to the warnings issued by the search engine developers.
For the rest of the people, this is the final warning for them to adjust to the new norms for a better customer service.
Google is one of the fastest growing billion-dollar organizations. And it will soon join Apple and Amazon in the trillion-dollar club if it continues to grow at the same pace. (Source)
In the world connected by the internet, we cannot replace the position of Google with any other search engine today.
If you are one of the few people who has taken the following updates seriously, you will see a massive boost in your website rankings.
On the other hand, if you haven’t done so, it is time that you do it right away to reap the benefits of this major update.
Google Algorithm Update 2018: Customer-Centric Content
Google is a keyword-based search engine. We all know that.
However, what we don’t know is that Google takes several factors into account, except for the presence of keywords, to give your website a suitable ranking.
Most people think that SEO is all about stuffing a lot of keywords into your content. While doing this, they often sacrifice the readability of the content.
These people also tend to forget the installation of backlinks from the most reliable sources on the internet.
Google takes three major factors into account while giving a rank to a new website. These include:
- Presence of Keywords
- Readability of the Content
- Presence of Backlinks
With the latest Google algorithm update 2018, Google has increased the need for readability of the content by a major factor.
Now, website owners that stuff their content with keywords at the expense of readability of content will be penalized heavily with lower website rankings.
The best way to ensure that your website does not suffer the same fate as some of the other keyword-stuffers is to increase the overall content of your website.
This will dilute the keyword density by a major factor. Make sure that you add customer-centric content that can truly help your target audience truly – instead of blindly promoting your product/service.
The websites that post user guides and how-to type of content will see a good boost in their rankings compared to the ones that are posting pure promotional content.
Apart from this, you also need to focus on increasing the readability with the use of legible fonts and themes.
Make sure that your content is broken down under multiple sub-headings and bullet points to get the maximum benefit from the deal.
If your aim is to provide true value to your prospects/customers, your website will definitely soar to a higher ranking quickly with this update.
Impact on YMYL and Health-Related Websites
The health-related websites have seen a massive boost in their ranking status with the August update of Google’s core algorithms.
These health-related websites are followed by websites on vehicles, beauty and personal care, and hobbies and leisure for the second, third and fourth positions.
The latest heat map distribution of the keywords suggest that Google has focused more on keywords related to health and fitness compared to real estate and finance.
The YMYL queries (Your Money Your Life) queries are targeted much more compared to the other queries on the internet.
This is the perfect time for blogs and websites that cater to an audience with YMYL queries to add new customer-centric content.
Or if your website does not cater to this particular segment, you can still add relevant content by drawing parallels between your sector and the health sector.
For example, you can upload blogs on ‘The best places to go for a mindful vacation.’ This content is ideal for a website that caters to the travel and tourism industry, but wants to leverage the Google update in its favour.
Impact on Security of Websites
Over the past couple of months, Google has reinforced the need for a secure website interface again and again.
With the latest update, Google has put the security of its audience at the forefront. Google has now completely revamped its interface to mark the websites that do not support the HTTPs.
Before the update, Google was passive about its security measures by warning its audience about the unsafe architecture of their websites in a small message box or a pop-up window.
However, the latest update brings a whole new page in front of the audience that requests to go for a more secure website.
Apart from this, Google has revamped its browsers, on both the desktop as well as the mobile interface, to behave in a similar manner.
If your website is not already converted from the HTTP to the HTTPs format, it is time that you do so right away. Otherwise, you stand a chance of losing a big chunk of your audience quickly.
Chrome Update
Google has updated its Chrome browser on both the desktop as well as the mobile interface.
Now, the websites that support the HTTPs format will pop-up normally on these browser windows. However, the websites that support the older and unsafe HTTP format will have an additional webpage pop-up in front of them.
This page will ask the audience to go to a different website altogether.
Now, your audience can still access your website by digging into the advanced settings of the pop-up window. However, Google will still continuously suggest that it is not a good idea for the audience to do so.
Most people who are not familiar with the advanced features of the browser will just look for another source of information on the internet. This update can effectively ruin your entire online reputation.
Changing the website status from HTTP to HTTPs is not a difficult process. In fact, it is very simple and one can complete it within a few hours.
So, it is a good idea for all website owners to do so from the back-end.
Mobile Speed Update
Over the past couple of years, Google has actively promoted the use of Android devices that run natively on the Google applications.
Now, Google has fortified this process by giving a preference to websites that have a mobile-friendly browsing index.
With its latest mobile-first indexing policy, Google aims to support the use of mobile browsers over the use of desktop browsers.
This update suggests that websites featuring a dedicated mobile-friendly version will see a huge surge in demand compared to the ones that do not do so.
Google wants website owners to create optimized pages for their website that can fit into the native resolution of a mobile display.
Over this, Google also encourages the use of adaptive website development practices that can automatically adjust the size and resolution of images/text on a website interface.
The websites that feature these characteristics will see a massive boost in ranking compared to the ones that do not.
This is by far one of the most influential core Google algorithm update for 2018.
It is time that you invest your money into the right web and content development practices. Not only that, you must also keep a customer-first mindset to stay in the good books of Google.