As the world struggles to understand the factors that come into play in digital marketing, updates by Google’s algorithm are important determinants of a website. Google has introduced a number of updates in 2020 that impacted search positioning, CTR, and overall SEO approaches. In this article, we will examine the major algorithm updates of the year 2020 and what its implications on SEO are for website owners and marketers.
January 2020 Google Algorithm Updates Core Update
The first major update of 2020, Core Update, was released in the month of January. This change centered on further refining the search results and refining Google’s capability to judge content quality. A large number of websites suffered shifts in rank; some rose higher while others fell lower.
Key Features of the Core Update of January 2020
- Content Relevance: Google focused more on how well the content meets the user’s expectations. Those websites that offered some detailed, informative, and well-researched content benefited from the new changes.
- E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): The update aimed at E-A-T signals, meaning that sites with expertise and authority in their specific field were rewarded.
May 2020 Core Update
The second one was the May 2020 Core Update, which was one of the most significant algorithm update changes of the year. This update was designed to help reduce spam and make Google’s search results more accurate by enhancing the way the search engine measures the relevance and utility of Web sites.
There is a sense in which the May 2020 core update had several key features, a few of which include the following:
- Improved Understanding of User Intent: Google enhanced its capacity to comprehend the query it receives from users and, therefore, provide the most suitable results. Any content that satisfied particular user questions or offered straightforward answers to users’ questions showed an increase in rankings.
- Increased Focus on Content Quality: The subsequent months of 2018 proved that Google maintained its focus on the quality of content and uncompromising demands towards the quality of provided information: it demanded it to be well-written, presented, and referenced. Each type of website was also more likely to see a decrease in its rankings if it had thin or shallow content.
December 2020 Core Update
This veteran search engine giant of the internet also rolled out the December 2020 Core Update. This update was all about making the ways that Google evaluates website quality more precise, especially when it comes to YMYL content—things that can have a serious impact on people’s lives, such as money and health.
About the features of the December 2020 Core Update
- Emphasis on YMYL Pages: Google made additional changes to how it calculates YMYL pages to guarantee that the pages offered professional, relevant, and credible data. Any website that did not meet these requirements suffered losses in rankings.
- More Granular Page-Level Analysis: Google started to look at the websites more comprehensively, the usage patterns and time taken to load the page so as to ascertain the relevance of the sites.
Effects of the Google Updates of the Year 2020 on SEO
These changes that started in 2020 have made SEO even more important because of the necessity to focus on value, usability, and the tech side. Here are the key areas where SEO professionals had to adjust their strategies in response to these updates:
1. In the case of these two aspects, which are content quality and user intent, it refers to the following:
Perhaps the most important of all the changes that were made in 2020 is the enhancement of the role that high-quality and user-oriented content plays. Google’s algorithms were improving in terms of providing answers to queries that were not only accurate but also useful to the end users.
How to Adapt:
- Answer User Questions Thoroughly: Your content should directly relate to the needs and questions of your target population. Give the best and specific information that will help to solve the problems.
- Create authoritative content: inform your content with reliable sources of information and show added value by providing detailed information on the subjects you write about.
- Focus on Content Depth: Both relevance and quality have become more critical than before the 2020 update to rank, and therefore, such topics that are well covered instead of providing shallow information will do well after the update.
2. Mobile-First Indexing
Mobile-first indexing that was rolled out in previous years was highly emphasized in 2020. Google began mainly focusing on the mobile versions of websites to assess rankings, and this made it important for websites to deliver their best mobile experience.
How to Adapt:
- Ensure Mobile Optimization: Some of the websites that were not optimized for mobile users witnessed the worst effect in terms of rank position. To avoid this, ensure that your website design is mobile-friendly so that it can be easily accessed on mobile devices.
- Improve Mobile Page Speed: Accessibility must be considered when it comes to mobile websites since the loading time takes longer. Make sure that the mobile version of your site loads quickly; otherwise, you can be penalized.
- Test User Experience on Mobile: Make it a habit to try out your website on as many different mobile gadgets as feasible in order to avoid any that may hinder the operation of the site.
3. E-A-T and YMYL Content
E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) continued to be an essential focus in 2020 for sites that are related to YMYL (Your Money or Your Life). As time passed, Google often based quality and reliability on E-A-T signals of the websites that covered topics that are considered to be sensitive and personal, including health, finances, and legal matters.
How to Adapt:
- Build Credibility and Trust: Make sure your website showcases that you know what you are doing. List your sources properly, and if possible, include author profiles to demonstrate the credibility of people who work on the content.
- Stay Up-to-Date with Information: YMYL subject matter needs to be relevant and correct. Always make sure you keep on updating your content in order to keep it as fresh as possible and credible.
- Address User Concerns Directly: In the case of YMYL content, always explain the users’ possible worries and try to offer them information or advice that will help them avoid a bad outcome.
4. Page Experience Signals
Google has made a lot of changes in 2020 in terms of tweaking how it measures page experience. Elements like page speed and the mobile-friendliness of a website, as well as the interactivity, were more critical for ranking.
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How to Adapt:
- Optimize Page Speed: There is no doubt that the quick loading of the page is critical to both the end-user and search engine ranking. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights should be used to discover and solve performance problems.
- Enhance User Interactivity: Make sure your website is user-friendly, and the interactivity with the website should be smooth. This includes enhancing buttons, menus, and many other clickable controls on the sites.
5. Link Building and Backlink Quality
However, the backlinks remained relevant and were also one of the top ranking factors in 2020, despite the emphasis laid on content and user experience. However, the quality of backlinks was deemed more important than the number of backlinks.
How to Adapt:
- Focus on High-Quality Backlinks: It is also very important to get backlinks from other websites, especially the ones that are authoritative or related in some way to your website. The quality and relevance of links matter, and one should aim at getting a few good-quality links rather than many, poor-quality links.
- Diversify Anchor Text: Avoid overoptimizing your backlinks, but use diverse and naturally sounding anchor texts for your backlinks.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
1. The main focus of the January 2020 Core Update was on:
The January 2020 Core Update was announced as a change meant to further refine the quality of search results and content. It was highly focused on the so-called E-AT factors—expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness—to qualify the best content.
2. How was the May 2020 Core Update reflected in the changes in the search rankings?
The fifth Core Update that was performed in May 2020 is focused on the enhancement of the interface between users and Google to enhance the recognition of the latter. Websites with high-quality, time-consuming, and well-researched content were the ultimate beneficiaries of this update.
3. What are its implications for SEO in 2020?
Mobile-friendliness has become crucial and even more significant in 2020. Google now indexes the mobile-friendly version of a site, meaning mobile-optimized and fast-loading pages are now important for ranking.
4. What can websites do to better signal their E-A-T?
To boost E-A-T signals, the creation of content that is authoritative, up-to-date, and written by individuals with subject matter expertise is recommended. For YMYL content, it is crucial to use credible sources only and be as accurate as possible.
5. How important were the page experience signals in SEO in the year 2020?
Several factors, such as the page experience, for example, the speed of mobile, and the interactivity of the site, indicated tough practices in 2020. The changes were those that gave better rankings to websites that provided a smooth, quick, and easy experience.
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