Seven days into January 2020 and we are already seeing our first signs of a potential google algorithm update. There was some low lying chatter of a potential update over the holiday period but it seems unlikely engineers would role out an update over a period where few of them are likely to be working. Naturally with it being the holiday period you are likely to see large fluctuations in traffic throughout a range of sectors, could the chatter be possibly linked to this? This is reflected in tracking sensors with few throwing up any sort of fluctuation or volatility.
Google Algorithm Update January 2020
SEMrush is throwing up scores of 4.7/10 for both desktop and mobile viewports for 7th January 2020. This is also a similar theme throughout Europe with various locations such as France, Germany and Spain showing similar scores. With the start of the New Year perhaps Google are rolling out updates in line with their increased emphasis on search intent. One area of optimisation that we believe is often overlooked is media. When correctly optimised, images and video have the potential to drive in large levels of traffic. YouTube is a massive search engine in its own right, coupled with videos pulled directly through to Google result pages and their image search capabilities the potential is massive!
Voice Search Optimisation
One interesting point is that of voice optimisation. This was widely predicted to massively take off with the growth in mobile devices and also the introduction of voice activated technology such as Alexa. Interestingly, Google employee Gary Illyes made a point about putting the voice optimisation trend to sleep. There is no doubt that voice optimisation is growing. However, you cannot optimise differently for voice search than you would for normal searches so stop trying to do so. Optimise for normal searches and focus on the quality of your content! The best way to do this is to write your content naturally and use language that is natural and easy to read. He also predicts images and multimedia will be the big thing in the near future.
It’s a new year, maybe we can put the voice search optimization fad to sleep finally… 🙄
— Gary “鯨理／경리” Illyes (@methode) January 3, 2020
Bing also echo this approach. As we move into 2020, instead of focusing purely upon keyword research practices we should move towards search intent research. Keywords still play a massive role in optimisation but it is also about understanding the intent behind the keyword searches. With the emphasis on search intent and updates such as BERT, this is likely to take off in the coming year. By optimising for search intent this is also effectively optimising for voice search anyway!
January 2020 Core Update
Google has announced the rollout of a broad core algorithm update, going live 13th January 2020. This will be rolled out to the various data centres over the following days. They have named the update the January 2020 Core Update, catchy! As ever, Google are typically vague about what the update covers. Their advice is to follow previous advice that they have given. This advice can be found at the Google Webmaster Blog.
This update is being picked up by sensors such as SEMrush, throwing up scores of 7.3 and 7.4 for desktop and mobile viewports throughout the UK. This is a similar theme throughout Europe, high volatility being seen in locations such as Germany and France. We will monitor this update over the coming days and weeks, providing any feedback and findings when they occur!
Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the January 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog post for more about that:https://t.co/e5ZQUA3RC6
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 13, 2020
Google Algorithm Updates – Impacting Your Digital Strategy
Moving into the new decade are you struggling with your digital marketing strategy? Perhaps you’re not sure where to begin? Whatever the circumstances, contact Leicester’s SEO and PPC experts here at USDigital for a free site audit!
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Digital Account Executive at US Digital with an avid interest in SEO and all things Digital Marketing. I’ll be updating you with any news on Google Algorithms and latest technology updates.
