If you’re an SMB web designer, it’s important to stay informed about SEO updates. In this article, we summarize some of the most recent SEO updates for SMB web designers and developers.
For those SMB web designers who are relatively new to SEO (search engine optimization, we recommend our combination video and/or blog: SEO 101 for Business Owners and Executives. Read or watch to gain a foundation of what SEO is and why it matters.
If it seems that 2021 has been a volatile SEO year with an enormous number of Google algorithm updates, you’re right.
While 2020 was relatively quiet when it came to SEO algorithm changes, 2021 has exploded with changes. As we’ve mentioned before, Google tweaks its algorithm multiple times a day, but 2021 has seen many more significant SEO updates. Moz has been tracking these algorithm changes for the past 21 years.
In 2020, Google launched only seven confirmed algorithm updates according to Moz. As of November 2021, it had rolled out nine significant algorithm changes.
What’s more, these changes have created enormous volatility in search rankings, according to Semrush . As reported in Search Engine Land, 2021 brought about 68% more volatility on desktop search and a whopping 85% more volatility on mobile search compared to 2020.
This included not only more days of high and very-high levels of rank volatility, but these swings occurred on more days.
In August, Google began to rewrite how page titles (also known as title tags) appeared in search results. Web designers and SEOs were not amused.
As Google’s John Mueller phrased it in Search News, “The initial change resulted in a LOT of feedback…”
Since then, Mueller reports that this rollout has been improved. What’s more, the text shown will no longer vary by query (i.e., by what people “Google”).
Google offers the following advice for <title> elements:
Google has released three confirmed anti-spam updates in 2021. The most recent of these was in November. The July update was specifically called a “link spam update.” It was geared to disqualify links that are generated by link schemes.
In a page last updated at the end of November, Google reminds SEOs and SMB web designers to avoid the following:
Google has rolled out continuous scrolling on mobile devices in the United States. This means that people on their phones or tablets can now easily scroll past the first 10 results, the first 20 results, etc. In other words, users have the ability to see more search engine results (i.e., impressions) without clicking.
With this change, you may see a website’s daily impressions increase in the Performance section of Google Search Console.
At the same time, you may also see lower click-thru rates (CTRs). This is because users will readily have more search listings to choose from.
Further, we predict that the more users begin to go to your site, the more Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) may begin to increase your ranking.
On the other hand, if users scroll past your search engine return listing, you may see clicks and average positions decline.
To prompt users to click on the search return listing for your SMB website pages, be sure to write descriptive URLs, follow the title best practices, and include a compelling meta description.
If you design ecommerce sites for your SMB, be sure to check out Google’s comprehensive guide for ecommerce. We reviewed these guidelines in depth in How to Pay Less for Ecommerce Traffic: Google’s Roadmap Revealed.
Sites with product reviews (affiliate sites) are now held to a higher standard. In other words, an expert must independently evaluate the products and include more than simply manufacturer information.
For many SMBs, local search is an extremely important source of website traffic. Foremost in this arena has been Google My Business.
Google My Business is now called Google Business Profile. Additionally, you and your SMB clients can now edit your Google Business Profile directly on Google.
On December 16, 2021, Google confirmed that it updated search algorithm factors that affect local search results. Soon after, Brightlocal reported that this change was the biggest local search algorithm update in five years. This local update, now being called “Vicinity,” focuses on proximity. In other words, it strives to make local search results more relevant to the location of the user.
What’s more, on desktop search, the local pack (three-pack of listings) now appears to the left of the map rather than below it.
Google continues to recommend this local ranking guidance:
Additionally, three factors help to ensure your business is listed prominently in the local pack: your relevance to the search (don’t keyword stuff!), your distance from the user, and how well-known you are in the community.
We’ve discussed a little about the importance of your SMB’s expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in What Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know About Content Marketing.
In fact, in Google’s Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines, E-A-T is mentioned 129 times in these 161-page guidelines. The guidelines were most recently updated in October.
E-A-T is especially important for your money or your life (YMYL) websites, such as healthcare and financial websites. In October, the definition of YMYL sites has expanded to include:
In its updated quality rater guidelines, Google suggest that “for individual authors and content creators, biographical information articles can be a good source of reputation information.”
As an SMB web designer, you can help ensure E-A-T, by ensuring a post is written by an individual subject matter expert (SME) author—not “staff writers.”
Also, use extensive author biography pages, says content strategy expert Lily Ray in “E-A-T in Google Search, Google Discover, and Beyond!” Be sure to innovate what goes into the bio. For example, you’ll want to link to other articles or sources online where the author’s expertise is showcased. Including a photo or video is also helpful. Use schema wherever you can to enhance the bio and credentials.
Furthermore, authority is demonstrated by focusing on a specific topic—rather than a wide spectrum of topics.
Ray also noted that the following are important:
Demonstrate to users and search engines that you’re investing in the quality of the content.
Perhaps display your editorial policy.
Google notes that pages that can cause physical, mental, emotional, or financial harm to people are to be rated as “lowest page quality” sites.
Starting in February, the Google search engine return pages (SERPs) now have three dots after the URL. Still in Beta, this feature is intended to help users better understand the website that they’re visiting.
Content varies when you click the three dots.
For the most part, you’ll see a popup with a headline that reads “About this result.” The information varies depending on the website. Generally, you’ll see two main sections:
The “Source” section content does the following:
Below the “Source” section is the “Your search & this result” section.
This “Your Search & this result” section currently shows:
The “More about this page” section opens a second popup with the following features:
The boxed snippet at the top displays a:
The “About the source” content includes an excerpt from the “about” page of your website, often called “In their own words.” This seems to support the need for SMB web designers to have “about” page content on their sites.
Furthermore, it may include “web results about this source.” The latter provides a few sources that link to you.
Finally, it notes how long ago the SMB site was first indexed by Google.
The “About the topic” section includes related results. The user can click at the bottom to load more results.
As we reported in our blog Google Algorithm Updates in 2021: What Small Businesses Need to Know, the Page Experience update looks at:
For many SMB web designers, the most elusive of these ranking factors tends to be the core web vitals, which address site speed, responsiveness, and interactivity through three factors:
If you wish to delve further, click on the links above or watch our short video: Google SEO Changes in 2021.
For most SMBs, web designers and SEOs won’t find any data in the Page Experience section of Google Search Console. Instead, you’ll find a message that reads that the website has not received enough site traffic in the last 90 days for a complete evaluation.
For those SMBs with “enough usage data,” page experience is based on an aggregate of real user experiences over time—not lab data.
When you have the opportunity to build a new SMB site:
As an SMB web designer, you can test the approximate speed of individual mobile and/or desktop pages yourself with PageSpeed Insights and/or Google Chrome’s developer tools (under Chromes three vertical dots > More tools > Developer tools).
You’ll get an overall speed score number (not directly related to your ranking) as well as LCP and CLS scores. You will not find an FID.
These tests offer specific recommendations for improvement, called “opportunities” and “diagnostics.” What’s more, they let you know what’s going well in its “passed audits” section.
In my opinion, this algorithm update (particularly the core web vitals) gives an unfair advantage to the largest, wealthiest companies that can afford to hire high-tech coders to improve their Core Web Vitals.
Also, Google Search Console provides feedback to large sites (with “enough” user experience data). By contrast, SMB web designers need to test each page individually. And you’ll get lab data—not actual user experience data. (Only user experience data is considered in Core Web Vitals.)
Happily, more and more WordPress theme developers and other website builders have begun to focus on making builders and themes lighter and faster.
At one point this year, John Mueller of Google reported that all other factors being equal between two websites, core web vitals would be a deciding factor.
In November, however, he stated that the factor was “more than just a tie breaker.” In both cases, he reiterated that it was most important for website designers and SEOs to focus on the value of the entire website.
Keep in mind that the Core Web Vitals are one ranking factor among more than 100+. What’s more, the Core Web Vitals are not the primary or most critical search ranking factor.
That’s because many other factors, such as relevant content creation, is still critical to having a fantastic SMB website.
For example, a web page with little to no content will load very quickly. However, it will likely not rank well, because it offers little to no value.
At the same time, Page Performance and the Core Web Vitals are not going away.
In fact, Page Performance Updates are coming to desktop search in February to March 2022. All of the factors will apply to desktop sites except, of course, mobile friendliness.
To be effective in 2022 and beyond, SMB web designers will need to be familiar with these Google updates. At Nancy Burgess Strategic Marketing Inc., we stay apprised of Google updates, so we can help our SMB clients and our web designer colleague’s websites be optimized for search.
Learn more about our SEO Services for SMBs and our SEO Services for Web Designers and Developers.
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