Every fortnight the Croud SEO team collate the latest news from relevant sources around the web so you don’t have to. Read through the top SEO news stories for this week below and follow us on Twitter or sign up to our newsletter.
Analyzing search results reveals a lot about Google’s view of useful content
13/02/2020
SEL looks at how an analysis of the SERP features can reveal what Google considers useful content. This includes looking at the knowledge graph its suggested content, the images it recommends and also the “People also ask” suggestions.
Unconfirmed Google Search ranking update feels big
11/02/2020
There appears to have been a Google update over the weekend (8th/9th), which has caused a large fluctuation within the SERPs that was echoed on the usual tracking tools. Bear in mind for any reporting purposes, though it’s still unclear which types of sites has seen the bulk of the changes.
Tripadvisor launches “Review Hub” to help restaurants easily manage their online reviews across major dining sites and apps
05/02/2020
Tripadvisor has launched a review dashboard that allows users to manage reviews from multiple sources in one place. With reviews being an important aspect of search nowadays, this should help brands more easily manage their presence on the platform.
SEO and intent 2020: new study reveals true state of search
31/01/2019
A study by Ignite Visibility analysed 500+ searchers and found that meta-descriptions followed by the brand name and the page title had the greatest impact on search click through rate. The respondents also agreed that the rich results improved the SERPs.
Google: Use (relevant) keywords in your Google My Business description
12/02/2020
A new page on the GMB Help site is encouraging users to include relevant keywords relevant within the business description; this settles a debate about whether doing so will have an impact or not. It’s important to note that this does not mean keyword spamming, but include terms relevant to what the searcher may be looking for in relation to the business.
Report: Future of search in 2020 according to SEO specialists
07/02/2020
A survey of SEOs reveals what they think will be important for the future. This includes highlights such as content quality becoming a priority for Google and AI optimisation becoming a key tactic.
How to set up SEO on WordPress [Video]
10/02/2020
Zima Media released a video detailing how to ensure WordPress is prepared for search. This covers aspects such as schema and the Yoast plug in, as well as SSL set up and URL optimisation.
New reports for review snippets in Search Console
10/02/2020
Google has updated Search Console to include review performance, enhancement and testing reports. If reviews exist on site, this will be powerful in providing information on how well they’re performing as well as help debug any issues.
