Three Google Algorithm Updates That Matter
March 2018 has seen three significant Google search updates and tests that are painting a picture of things to come this year.
Brackets Google Update
The first update rolled out on the 7th of March and has been informally entitled ‘Brackets’. As far as we can tell its primary focus is on content quality – which has always been a big factor in any update from Google. It seems that this update has been boosting the performance of sites that previously had rich content, but weren’t benefitting from it. As such, we’ve seen some sites that we’ve spent time on improving the quality of its content suddenly jump in the rankings, which is great. For this particular update, there is no ‘fix’ to mitigate its negative effects – that is, aside from ensuring that your site’s content is as well written and pertinent to the user as possible.
Zero Results Google Test
On the 14th of March Google tested some results returning zero results.We previously discussed the potential impact of this. In this case, it was a test that has now ended, but Google were pleased with the results and it’s confirmed that there was no wide impact beyond a few things like time queries and unit conversions.
Mobile-First Rollout
As previously discussed, Google have started the big rollout for mobile first indexing. If you haven’t already, make sure your site is optimised for mobile. You can test your site here – if it isn’t, contact us today to make sure your site doesn’t plummet in the rankings!