Google’s Recent Algorithm Update & SEO

Google’s New Broad Spectrum Algorithm

A lot goes on behind the scenes at Google, but they recently broke the barrier of silence and let the world know that they were rolling out a “Broad Spectrum Algorithm Update.”

On August first the Twitter user @searchliasion tweeted the following:

This week we released a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. Our guidance about such updates remains the same as in March, as we covered here: https://t.co/uPlEdSLHoX

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) August 1, 2018

While the tweets don’t describe exactly what was changed, it’s clear that Google has a strong emphasis on the end-user’s experience. This latest update seems to be affecting both organic results and local searches. According to several reports, it appears that local results are favoring small, local businesses over national retail chains, which is always a plus in our book. These shifts in search behavior are significant for anyone focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as they underline the importance of local relevancy and high-quality content.

Overall, the update likely will not affect your overall ranking, but recent studies have shown that increasing your E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust) will continue to help boost your SEO rankings. Additionally, brands that maintain active Social Media channels and regularly post content have been noted to build stronger trust signals with their audience.

3 Tips Centered Around E-A-T to Help Improve Your Rankings

Expertise

Not everyone is going to be an expert in every topic; that’s why here at Atilus, we each take our own niche of the digital spectrum and write blogs about it. There’s no way our Digital Marketing Engineer, Sydney, would be able to write an in-depth blog about CSS3 & HTML—it’s not her expertise.

When Google crawls your site & indexes it, the bot is looking for similar keywords, phrases, etc. to be able to categorize it within its huge library of the internet and show up for the right search results. A focused, consistent topic strategy across your site and Social Media channels will help reinforce your authority. If you try to spread your information out too far, you won’t rank high for anything.

Authoritativeness

Authoritative content helps to show Google and other search engines that you are an expert in your field. However, authoritative content isn’t something you can post about overnight, but you can continue to post a series of content pieces to help showcase your authority in your industry. For example, you can write case studies about working with your customers or publish well-researched blogs that align with your SEO strategy. You can also support your content with links to your Social Media activity that reflects consistent industry engagement.

Trust

Do you trust sites with article titles such as “3 facts about weight loss that doctors don’t want you to know – #5 will BLOW YOUR MIND?” I didn’t think so. Being truthful in the information you are presenting to the reader and having verifiable facts within your content will increase trust with the user & with Google.

One way to reinforce trust is to connect your website and Social Media accounts, showing a consistent brand voice and providing avenues for customer interaction and reviews. This synergy supports both your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts and your reputation management.

PS: If you’re ever interested in a long read, Google has a PDF of what their Search Quality Evaluators look for on a website.

Have you noticed your rankings change over the past few weeks? What E-A-T strategies, including improvements in SEO and Social Media engagement, are you going to implement?