Here we inform our readers about the regular changes and updates of the search engine giant Google.
Google News
In order to react quickly to Google updates, or perhaps even in advance, it is worthwhile for online retailers to always stay up to date with the latest developments. In our magazine we summarize the most important changes at Google briefly and concisely.
Eagerly awaiting the Google Mobile Update
In just under a week the time has come: Google is rolling out its latest update for its search results.
The "Google Mobile Update" was, however, announced or hinted at much earlier. Webmasters were made aware by Google to please optimize their website for mobile devices. In addition, it was pointed out that a lack of optimization can quickly affect the ranking.
Impairments for non-responsive sites
This is of course not surprising, as an enormous number of search queries to Google now come from a smartphone or tablet. Sites that have not been optimized are usually not only user-unfriendly due to too-small fonts or too-small controls, but also consume a lot of data volume. This is likely to soon become noticeable in the ranking of these sites.
SYNERGY NETWORKS GmbH programs mobile-friendly
In any case, we are curious, as always when Google announces an update that affects the search algorithm, which first results of the Google Mobile Update will be visible over the next few days. If you then see a need for action regarding your online presence, turn with confidence to SYNERGY NETWORKS GmbH. We convert your web presence to mobile-friendliness. Even if you are starting from scratch with your website or your online shop, you can rely on us to program and design completely responsively.
News from the Google universe
published on 18.03.2016
Over the last eight weeks there have been numerous reports from the Google universe. For all those who missed them, we summarize the most important news briefly and crisply.
HTTPS to become standard
For some time now, sites with SSL encryption have ranked better on Google than unencrypted ones. Now Google is going a step further: sites with SSL are soon to be more strongly highlighted in the search results. Or rather, the in-house browser Chrome marks sites with questionable SSL with a red X, which is placed before the web address. In the future, sites without encryption are also to be marked with this X.
No ads in the sidebar
Google Ads in the right sidebar are a thing of the past, at least in desktop search. Instead, four ads instead of three will be displayed in the ads above the search results – if it concerns highly commercial queries. An exception is the Product Listing Ads. These continue to be displayed in the right column. For mobile search, nothing changes for now either.
PageRank being discontinued
The Google PageRank display in the toolbar is being discontinued bit by bit. Originally, PageRank was used to determine the importance of a page. The rule was: the more incoming links, the higher the weighting and the PageRank. Over time, however, more important factors for the ranking algorithm emerged, which is why PageRank became only slightly relevant. In addition, PageRank within the toolbar only updated at larger intervals.
Guidelines for advertising texts
Anyone who also publishes promotional contributions on their website must label them sufficiently. Google has now issued guidelines for the labeling. Those who do not comply risk a loss in ranking. Google recommends that the promotional intent be mentioned already at the beginning of the article. Furthermore, nofollow links should be used when, for example, linking to the company page, social media pages, the app, a review portal, or the online shop of the promoted company/product.
Ranking for PLAs
On Google.com there are changes for the Product Listing Ads, i.e. the product ads. PLAs are displayed with an arrow that allows the searcher to click through the ads. Furthermore, PLAs are given a ranking for a search query that includes words such as "best" or "top". This ranking is apparently based on user reviews.
Mobilegeddon 2 is coming
Google announces another change in the algorithm. Mobile-optimized sites are to be favored even more. So from May of this year, responsive websites will be strengthened even more in their significance. What does this mean for non-optimized sites? According to Google, they will experience losses in ranking and lose traffic.
A good reason, then, to have a mobile optimization of websites and online shops carried out. For example by SYNERGY NETWORKS GmbH.
Google Update puts user intention in the foreground
published on 12.12.2015
Content – not only in SEO circles is this almost a magic word. Throughout e-commerce it is widely known that high-quality content positively influences the ranking of websites.
But what exactly is high-quality content? On this, search engine giant Google published its current Quality Rater Guidelines on 12 November. There it is precisely shown which content Google considers high-quality or low-quality.
This announcement apparently does not come out of nowhere. Because since the end of November, SEO experts have been observing fluctuations in the search results on Google. Although there are no official statements about a new update, changes are nevertheless visible. Apparently we are dealing with the Phantom III Update, which puts the user intention and the user-friendliness of websites in the foreground.
Thin and Duplicate Content in the focus of the latest Google Update
Above all, the update seems to target category pages in the e-commerce sector. Here it seems to become increasingly important for the search engine that the supporting content also offers the user added value. The main content, such as products with links, should be supported by the supplementary content. Irrelevant content is penalized.
If, for example, one deals in shoes and offers on a category page a text about the history of the shoe, this is not really helpful content for the customer's purchase decision. But if one offers a decision aid, informs one's buyers about different materials or how differently the sizes can turn out, these are important pieces of information for the customer that Google likes to see.
So anyone who has always written their texts for the customer and for good service should also continue to be on the safe side here. Pure SEO texts that offer no useful information should be revised. In doing so, online retailers should let professionals help them. SYNERGY NETWORKS GmbH, for example, counts professional journalists and marketing experts among its team.
But not only the relevance of the content topic must be kept in mind. Duplicate Content was and still is always in the focus of the Google Quality Updates. With Phantom II, websites with duplicate content were heavily penalized. Now this trend is being revised somewhat.
Duplicate content is not penalized across the board. But be careful! Here it depends very much on what kind of website it is. The new relaxed stance applies, for example, to online dictionaries, which often have similar content and generally offer little supporting content. In the e-commerce sector, duplicate content still carries a high risk of a ranking downgrade.
Furthermore, websites that rank for a brand, i.e. a brand keyword, seem to be affected. Because if the user searches directly for a brand, they most likely have the intention of landing on the official website or, for example, the Facebook page. But a page that only offers links to this keyword does not fully fulfill the user's intention.
Conclusion on the Google Quality Update
In assessing websites, Google is placing more and more value on the user also receiving what they supposedly searched for.
The global changes in the search results suggest that Google has been tinkering with the search algorithm.
Fluctuations occur above all in the e-commerce sector for websites with thin content (i.e. content that offers no added value and does not support the customer in their actual intention), duplicate content, for example in dictionaries, and brand keywords for pages that rank for "foreign" brands.
Price comparisons in Google's Product Listing Ads
published on 03.07.2015
Anyone who has an actual purchase intention, or wants to find out about prices in advance, is of course well advised in the World Wide Web. But for once, the most popular method here is not the Google search engine, but the sales platform Amazon.
A product search in most cases takes place via the search on the Marketplace and precisely not in the Google search. The industry giant naturally cannot and will not take this lying down, and so the signs are increasing that a change is imminent here.
Battle for the price search
How this is supposed to work, Google has recently been testing in the United States. Still unnoticed by many, price comparisons are increasingly sneaking into the Product Listing Ads. In doing so, ads with discounted products are particularly highlighted. In addition, there is a note that this very article is cheaper by a certain percentage than the usual online price. Google of course argued for this test phase with increasing user-friendliness. For retailers, this new price battle will be either a curse or a blessing – that remains to be seen. Just as unclear is whether Google will expand its test phase from the States to other countries or whether the price comparison function actually catches on. Presumably, however, Google will not concede the battle for the price search to Amazon, which is why we can expect that the price comparison will soon be part of the standard of the Product Listing Ads.
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