- How I stay ahead of Google algorithm updates.
Have you ever noticed
that Google is constantly making algorithm changes?
The worst part is that, when they finally roll one out,
they don't always give you a ton of notice.
It might be frustrating,
but Google's desktop market share
is roughly 85.55% worldwide.
87% of American search engine users prefer Google
over other searches like Bing or Yahoo or Baidu.
The bottom line is you simply can't afford
to ignore Google or the many,
many algorithm updates that are to come in the future.
(shimmering technical blip sound)
It's important to understand
that Google's ranking system actually consists
of multiple algorithms.
It's not just one easy to understand system.
In fact,
there are over 200 components that factor
into Google's algorithm.
The next time you hear an update has been rolled out,
imagine it's an entire interconnected process of things,
not just one simple lever that's being pulled.
Google's core updates can sometimes take weeks
to fully roll out and in that timeframe,
it's super common to see some webpages gain
or lose position,
so how can you possibly expect to adapt?
How are you supposed to maintain the same level
of search traffic when the whole algorithm is so fluid?
Here are a few essential tips for staying ahead
of Google's algorithm update
so you'll never get left behind.
Step one, set up Google Alerts.
Tracking every single update
that Google makes can be exhausting,
but you can't afford to miss out
on the big core algorithm update.
With Google Alerts,
you'll receive a notification directly in your inbox
whenever algorithm updates are mentioned online,
giving you enough time to mentally prepare
and tweak your SEO strategy if needed.
The way you set it up is that you go to google.com/alerts,
then put in keywords like 'Google algorithm',
and then click on the 'Create Alert' button.
Another great way to stay on top of algorithm changes
is to follow Google Search Liaison on Twitter.
Its official account essentially does
what Google Alerts does,
but tracks social media mentions instead,
and while we're on the subject of Google,
user tools such as Search Console and Use Google Analytics,
they can help you identify unusual traffic activity as well
as random spikes or dips in conversion.
Major changes in either traffic or conversions could be
an indicator that your SEO has somewhat been affected
by an algorithm change.
Could be positive or negative.
From there, you want to check out blogs,
like search engine Roundtable and search engine Land,
that typically covers what's happening,
and I also cover them on neilpatel.com.
Other algorithm analytics tools like Moscas
or Grum can track daily algorithm changes giving you
the edge needed to stay ahead of other marketers.
Step two, avoid Blackhat SEO practices.
It's got a spooky name for a pretty good reason.
Blackhat SEO is a practice that basically goes
against search engine guidelines
and includes tactics like keyword stuffing,
hidden tags and cloaking,
and buying back links, and using private link networks,
and paid back links, and doorway pages.
Some of these practices might just help you gain
a short term advantage,
but it won't last long and it could even lead to penalty
which could seriously harm your business's
long term chances of ranking high on Google.
You might even get blacklisted.
Google's pretty smart.
They can recognize when you're up to no good.
Instead, read through Google Search Essentials.
There's a ton of why-how SEO practices
in there that can help you skirt any issues, penalties,
or other punishments.
Step three, optimize the user experience.
Every update has one overarching goal behind it,
to show users the sites that they love that provide
the most helpful information and that are most beneficial.
Look, a bad user experience can be disastrous
for your traffic.
According to HubSpot,
88% of customers are less likely to return to a site
with bad UX.
90% of customers reported
that they stopped using an app because it performed poorly.
Long story short, if your website isn't running well,
not only will you lose your audience,
Google will even make it harder for them to find you.
Technical issues can plague your site.
Things like four, four errors, reader eggs,
callability issues, website security,
slow load speed,
and overall just confusing user journey.
It shouldn't take more than one
or two seconds for your website to load.
The longer your page takes to load,
the worse your user experience will be.
Make sure you also have
a comprehensive internal linking structure,
a fast loading website,
and quality content.
You can use tools like DeepCrawl, BuzzSumo, Found,
and more to see how your website is performing,
and you can use tools like Crazy Egg to create a heat map
that shows you where people are clicking
on your website and where they don't,
and you can use this data
to improve your user experience as well.
Step four, keep your content fresh.
I used to not really follow Google updates that much. Why?
Because they happen so often and so quickly
that it's almost impossible for me
to fully anticipate everything that Google will change.
What I did was I started prioritizing creating exceptional,
user-friendly content and stuff
that my audience actually wants to read.
That includes content refreshes,
doing consistent queue and research
and including it in my content,
and blogging frequently
about high-volume search topics in my industry.
Remember, a Google update is designed to make
the search engine better for the user,
so make sure you're focusing on the same thing.
Step five, use tools that determine what updates
are affecting your website.
Notice a decline in traffic as of lately?
It might not be a random fluke.
It might have been an algorithm change.
Here are two tools that can help you identify what
the heck went wrong.
The first is check out Google Search Console.
It contains a ton of awesome resources that you
can use to diagnose common performance issues
and identify potential algorithm penalties.
Logdna search console,
it's a free analytics tool from Google.
It can help you identify mobile issues, usability,
four, four issues.
It can even tell you
if you have some code that's not reading right
by their search engine
and it'll tell you what pages that need to be fixed
and what code needs to be fixed.
Then the other tool that you have, Semrush Sensor.
This tool breaks down what is changing
for each industry when it comes
to algorithm updates.
With these five strategies,
you should be good to go
and ready for whatever Google throws your way,
and if you want even more help,
check out my ad agency, NP Digital,
where we help companies with their Google problems and heck,
all their digital marketing problems.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below.
I'm here to answer them and help you out.
If you enjoyed this video, like, share it,
tell people about it.
Thank you very much.