Google algorithm Archives Google algorithm

Jul 24 2025

What is Google AI Mode?

Google AI Mode is search with a brain. It uses AI to answer questions directly, so it’s no longer about just blue links. Type, talk, or upload a photo, and it gives you a useful summary plus follow-ups. Here’s how it works and why it matters.

Say hello to Google’s AI Mode

Google AI Mode is a feature in Search that uses generative AI to deliver full, conversational answers instead of just showing a list of links. It breaks questions into parts, pulls information from across the web, and presents a direct, useful response at the top of the results page.

This new feature doesn’t replace traditional search just yet, but it does build on it. As a result, it changes how people explore information and how content gets surfaced.

Are you curious about how this works? Check out the video below to see Google AI Mode in action while planning an autumn trip to Banff, Canada.

Search becomes a lot smarter

AI Mode handles different types of input, not just text. You can type a question, say it out loud, or upload a photo, and it works out what you mean. That flexibility makes it easier to search however and whenever it makes sense, whether you’re speaking into your phone, typing at your desk, or pointing your camera at something you want to learn more about.

It also uses what Google calls query fan-out. That means it quietly rewrites your question into a bunch of related ones and looks for answers across those variations. Ask something broad, like “best credit card for travel,” and the system may branch off behind the scenes, looking at fees, perks, user reviews, and so on.

AI Mode also pays attention to context. It keeps your previous queries in mind and follows the thread. You can ask follow-ups and get refined answers without starting from scratch.

An example of a search in Google AI Mode

How Google AI Mode works in practice

Using Google AI Mode feels different from standard search, and that shows up in how it delivers answers.

When someone asks a question, AI Mode doesn’t just take the words at face value—it tries to understand the intent behind them. It rewrites the query in several different ways behind the scenes, each one focused on a specific angle.

For example, a search like “what are the best places to travel in fall” might also trigger more specific questions in the background, like “pleasant weather and fewer crowds,” “fall foliage and scenic beauty,” or “unique experiences and cultural events.” AI Mode runs all of those in parallel, scans multiple online sources for useful information, and pieces together a response that covers what the user likely meant, even if they didn’t spell it out.

The response doesn’t look like a typical search results page. Instead of a list of links, users see a short summary stitched together from different sources. It reads more like an answer than a directory and can include images, maps, and more.

With AI Mode, you can also keep the conversation going. You could ask follow-up suggestions like “compare destinations in Canada,” “check visa requirements for Canada,” or “see average weather in British Columbia”. It helps users toward the next thing they might want to know without making them start over. The video at the top of this article shows this in practice.

The opening screen of Google’s AI Mode where you enter your questions

Behind the scenes, AI Mode uses passage-level retrieval. Rather than ranking entire pages, it scans individual sections, like a single paragraph, list, or sentence, to find the parts that answer specific pieces of the question.

That means a well-written section buried halfway down a product guide or FAQ could be surfaced, even if the full page wouldn’t normally show up high in the results.

This alone could make us rethink visibility. It’s less about a page’s overall ranking and more about whether any part of it directly addresses what someone is asking.

The focus of content is changing

AI Mode shifts how content gets discovered. It’s less about ranking in the traditional sense and more about providing answers that are both useful and directly relevant to what someone is asking.

The system is looking for content that fits into a specific response. That means structure matters, like clear headings, focused sections, and formatting that makes key points easy to extract. But usefulness on its own doesn’t guarantee visibility. The content has to align with the intent of the query in a very specific way.

Covering a topic from different angles helps. It gives your content more chances to match how people frame their questions, even when those questions vary in wording, detail, or focus. Visibility often depends not just on quality, but on precision.

Google AI Mode does several searches at the same time, while also looking at a large number of sites

What does Google AI Mode mean for SEO?

Google AI Mode could shift what we aim for. Visibility now depends on whether your content can deliver value right away, often in small, specific pieces. Google’s pulling answers from across the web: a sentence from one page, a stat from another, maybe a checklist from a support article.

That might feel limiting, but it opens up opportunities. If others are still optimizing for old patterns, there’s space to improve. Recognizing this shift early can give your brand a real advantage.

It also rewards a stronger understanding of how people search. Pages, tools, and features that directly answer real questions and make that answer easy to find stand a better chance of getting picked up.

Find out how to optimize your content for AI LLM comprehension using Yoast’s tools.

Google added an AI Mode button to its search homescreen

Where it’s going

Google is folding AI Mode into regular search experiences. On some questions, especially ones that ask for a comparison, a definition, or a plan, it’s already showing AI-generated results first.

That approach is expanding. More queries will likely trigger this kind of response over time, which means the way content gets surfaced will keep shifting. Long, keyword-heavy pages won’t offer the same payoff they once did. What works now is content that’s clear, helpful, and flexible enough to match how people explore a topic.

Chances are, AI Mode isn’t a side feature for long. It’s looking more and more like the future of Google Search.

How to access Google AI Mode

AI Mode is rolling out now in the U.S. and India. If you’re using Google Search or the Google app, you’ll start to see a new AI Mode tab either at the top of the results page or right in the search bar. This gives you access to more advanced AI responses, improved reasoning, and a deeper view of web content through follow-up questions and linked sources.

If you don’t see AI Mode yet, it’s likely still rolling out. Expect it to appear automatically soon. Once it shows up, you can use it without any special sign-up or activation. Once Google figures out monetization, we’ll see it roll out AI Mode to more countries soon.

You can also access it from search results. If Google thinks your query fits, a “Try in AI Mode” option may appear automatically. Trying it out firsthand gives the clearest insight into how responses are built and how your content appears.

Meet Google’s AI Mode

Google AI Mode signals a shift in how search works. It’s not just about rankings anymore. It’s about how helpful your content is and how easily it can be used to respond to real questions.

This change gives SEO and content teams a reason to look at their work differently. Clear structure, focused writing, and alignment with how people search all play a bigger role in visibility.

It’s a good time to step back, reassess what’s working, and explore areas you may have overlooked. For many, this is a chance to improve useful content, refine formats, and meet search expectations in new ways.

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he worked for a top-tier web design magazine, where he developed a keen understanding of how to create great content.

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Mar 25 2025

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

Do you have a website or are you thinking about creating one? And do you want to attract more people to your business? If the answer is yes, then there’s no doubt about it: SEO should be part of your marketing efforts. It’s a great way to build your brand and get people on your site. But what does it actually entail? In this post, we’ll give you an understanding of what SEO is and how you can get started!

What is SEO?

The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Let’s first get a definition from one of our principal SEO experts at Yoast, Alex Moss:

SEO is both the art and science of improving a website, and pages within, to be as visible as possible for when people search for a relevant topic within any search platform. SEO covers many areas from technical aspects including optimizing a site’s performance and structure, to enhancing brand authority by providing great content and matching it with that person’s search intent.

Alex Moss – Principal SEO at Yoast

So how does Google work? With search engines like Google, the process consists of crawling, indexing, and ranking. The crawler is an online bot that scours the web to collect all the pages out there and save them in a gigantic database called the index. This index is constantly updated with new pages or updated versions of existing ones. When someone searches online, the search engine calls on the index and uses complex algorithms to determine which pages are relevant to show. This determines the ranking of results shown to the online searcher.

For example, when I search for the term ‘sustainable phone case’, these results are shown by Google. Based on my search term and the intent behind it, Google deems these results the best ones found in its index.

search results for search query sustainable phone case — Screenshot of Google’s results for ‘sustainable phone case’

Organic vs paid search

SEO is focused on attracting more organic traffic to your website, traffic that comes to your site via unpaid search results. But as you can see in the image above, the search results also show ads and sponsored results. Often at the top of the page. To make a clear distinction, there are a few acronyms in use that are valuable to know:

SEM: Search engine marketing entails all marketing efforts to show up in the search results, both through ads and organic results.
SEO: SEO is the practice of improving a website to show up when people search for a relevant topic within any search platform.
SEA: Search engine advertising is the practice of paying for ads that show up in the search results of relevant keywords.
PPC: Pay-per-click. The advertising model used in SEA, where the advertiser pays a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.

These paid results can allow you to show up as the top result for a search term, but it will cost you money every time a user clicks through to your website. When comparing SEO vs PPC, they both have their benefits and drawbacks. But more often than not, they complement each other well.

Why SEO is important for site owners

Huge volume of searches

The reason that so many (big) companies heavily invest in SEO is the high impact that it can have when done right. To give you an idea, Google, the most-used search engine got around 8.3 billion searches per day in 2024. A number that has only gone up (and significantly) since 1998. So if you have a website, you want to make sure to show up in Google and other search platforms.

SEO is intent-driven

Online search is very intent-driven. Unlike other marketing channels, such as social media, where people happen to scroll upon your brand and content. This means you’re interrupting a user’s experience to capture their attention, which makes it more difficult to get them interested. Showing up in their search results aligns with an existing demand—your customers are actively seeking information, products, or solutions. This makes SEO a powerful inbound marketing strategy, where users come to you rather than the other way around. Because searchers already have intent, they are more likely to convert, making SEO an essential tool for attracting high-quality leads.

Competitive advantage

Creating a website and leaving it at that isn’t going to cut it. With new websites popping up left and right, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to get noticed and maintain customer loyalty. SEO can provide you with higher online visibility, a stronger brand, more authority in your field, more contact moments with your audience and higher quality traffic to your website (and/or offline location). All of this, leading to higher brand loyalty and more revenue.

Types of SEO

Although the basic principles remain the same, there are a few different types of SEO worth mentioning. They may not all apply to your situation, but it is beneficial to dive into the ones that do:

Ecommerce SEO: SEO specifically focused on gaining more visibility and organic traffic for online stores. With the goal of acquiring more sales.
Local SEO: Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your website for a specific local area. This is to ensure you are easily found (both online and offline) by a local audience.
Video SEO: The process of optimizing videos and video pages to make them appear in the search results for relevant keyphrases. Whether that is Google’s search results or search results on other platforms like YouTube and social media.
News SEO: Mainly relevant for news publishers, news SEO focuses on getting content to show up as the top result in Google News and other news-specific areas of the search results.

The 3 pillars of SEO

SEO is all about optimizing your website to increase your online visibility. But what do we mean by that? What exactly should you be optimizing? Well, there’s a lot you can do and it can be divided up into three main areas.

Technical SEO

First of all, it’s important to focus on the technical part of SEO. Technical SEO is all about improving a website’s technical aspects to improve user experience and make search engines understand your pages. Aspects that fall under technical SEO are:

Loading time of your pages
Making the right parts of your site crawlable for search engines
The amount of dead links on your site
Security
Use of structured data

Search engines value these aspects because they want to present their users with websites that provide a proper user experience. A page that takes forever to load, doesn’t exist anymore, or isn’t secure, provides a terrible user experience and will not make users happy. Also, aspects such as crawlability and structured data help search engines understand what your pages are about. This helps search engines understand your relevance and allows them to rank your pages higher.

On-page SEO

Although technical SEO is also part of on-page SEO, this can be seen as ‘under-the-hood’ optimization to improve your pages. The other efforts that can be categorized as on-page SEO are targeted at optimizing the content on a page. Think of:

The quality of your content
Use of the proper keywords
Showing E-E-A-T in your content
Site structure
Internal linking
Well-thought-out URLs, titles, and alt tags

On-page SEO mainly revolves around content SEO and using the elements around that content to improve your findability for relevant terms.

Off-page SEO

In contrast to on-page SEO, off-page SEO entails everything you do for SEO outside of page optimization. Such as external link building, social media and local SEO (off-site). This is focused on growing your reach and building your brand to attract more traffic. An important part is link building, getting other relevant websites to link to your content. This can really help boost your visibility and improve your reputation as an authority – see links as like votes of confidence from other websites

But there’s a lot more you can do. For example, speaking at events, doing interviews, and blogging for other websites. These activities give you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and reach new people. When you own a local shop, these might not be as relevant. In that case, it’s important that you focus on the experience that people have with your shop. Make sure that customers leave happy and that this experience is positive, offline and online. This also extends to social media. Although your activity there does not directly impact rankings, it pays off to be in contact with your audience there as well. And provide a similar (positive) experience through these platforms as well.

One final aspect that you shouldn’t forget about is your business listings. Make sure these are accurate on your Google Business Profile and other websites that are relevant to your business.

SEO Ranking factors

To determine what results to show, and in what order, search engines use ranking factors. Ranking factors, or ranking signals, are characteristics of a page that search engines look at to determine how relevant that page is for a specific search query. Although the exact list of ranking factors and their importance is a bit of a mystery and changes from time to time, we do have a pretty good idea of the most important ones:

The quality, relevance and usability of your content
External and internal links
The technical aspects of your site (f.e. security)
User experience on your site (site speed, easy navigation, mobile parity)
The overall online presence of your brand

In addition to these top-ranking factors, there are plenty of others (both known and unknown). But to get a head start with SEO, it makes sense to focus on these aspects first.

SEO now vs early days: a brief history

SEO in the 90’s

Although websites have been around for a little while longer, people started optimizing their sites for search engines in the mid-1990s. As you can imagine, SEO was a lot simpler back then. The algorithms that search engines used were way less advanced and relied on ranking factors like keyword density to determine the relevance of a page. The ‘trick’ back then was making sure the keyword was being used enough times throughout your page and in your meta tags.

Search engines evolving

Naturally, the companies behind search engines quickly realized the issue with this approach. Displaying the results that use the keyword most isn’t always the best experience for their users. So they had to find a way to better handle how potential results were being ranked. Search engines like Google started working on ways to get smarter and rely less on ‘tricks’ and static ranking factors. This resulted in a number of algorithm updates, each resulting in a smarter Google that was more capable of understanding the relevance of a page.

With a team working non-stop on improving Google’s search engine, the focus moved from factors like keyword density to user experience and high-quality content. These algorithm updates are still very much a part of the SEO field, with Google releasing a new one (or multiple) every year. You can expect this to be a continuous process where search engines adapt to current search behaviour and adjust their algorithms to keep showing users the best results for their search query.

SEO in 2025

So, where does that leave us in 2025? As mentioned, search engines continue working on their algorithms to improve their users’ experience. The focus points of SEO in 2025 are still high-quality content and technical factors like site speed, security and mobile parity. But there are more aspects that Google and other search engines deem important.

Search engines are working hard to get a better understanding of a user’s search intent, to show that user the results that fit their need best. Related to that, they continue to improve how information is presented in the search results, which can differ quite a bit per search intent.

AI overview for search term site structure — A possible zero-click search, where the definition of site structure is shown in an AI overview.

One result of that is zero-click searches, where search engines show the complete answer to a search query in the search results. This can lead to fewer clicks to your website, but it still pays off to be the website that provides that answer. In fact, this is a good example of the direction in which SEO is going. Shift your focus from ‘just clicks’ and maintaining a specific spot in the search results to building a strong brand and being visible on different platforms.

In 2025, SEO will focus less on raw keywords and more so around search intent across diverse platforms like social media and LLMs. As well as this, it’ll be important to produce more video content as discovery platforms integrate these more into their SERPs.

Alex Moss – Principal SEO at Yoast

The other aspect we can’t ignore is AI. More people are using AI tools for their online searches and search engines are also investing in providing AI-driven search experiences. An example of that is Google AI overviews, where Google uses AI to pull together and combine information on a search query from different resources. This is then shown in one overview, with the hope that this directly answers the specific question asked.

Setting SEO Goals

SEO experts used to closely monitor ranking positions, clicks, website traffic and stats like bounce rates. Naturally, all of this data is still relevant, but there has been a shift in what goals to focus on. Search behavior has changed, and search engines are showing your content in many different ways. So it’s not just a number game anymore. You need to focus on the overall perception of your brand and being present in the right places.

Set SEO goals related to engagement, brand awareness, user experience on your website, user satisfaction, and how all of this can be related to sales or other actions you want your audience to perform. This can be trickier than just looking at your daily rankings but will give you a better idea of the success of your SEO strategy and how you’re perceived.

How to learn SEO and get started

Although it consists of a lot of different aspects, it is possible to tackle (a lot of) SEO yourself. Let’s look at how you can do that and what resources can help you get started.

Start with the basics

Before you get to content creation, it’s important to get your technical SEO in order. If you know your way around redirects, optimizing page speed, crawlability, security and structured data, make those your first priority. If not, let your site builder help you out or hire someone with a background in technical SEO. When that’s done, you can start looking at site structure and the content on your pages.

By doing keyword research, you will be able to create content that aligns with your business and gets people to your website. It will also give you loads of input on topics to write about. This will enable you to set up an SEO strategy and plan to continue working on this throughout the year. Because SEO is never done. That’s why it’s important to create a realistic plan and keep yourself (or your team) to it. This might feel like a lot of effort, but remember that SEO not only brings more traffic to your site, it also helps build your brand and increase user loyalty in the long run.

How we can help you

At Yoast, we want to make SEO accessible for everyone. And we want to help you do it yourself. That’s why we offer a free and Premium version of our WordPress plugin, allowing you to get started with SEO without too much trouble. Our free plugin comes with features like the SEO and readability analyses, which give you feedback on your content right away. It also handles parts of the technical SEO for you. Our Premium plugin gives you access to some more features like AI-powered features, a redirect tool, and the possibility to add multiple keywords per page. Making SEO even easier to work on.

We also offer a variety of SEO courses in our Yoast SEO academy, where you can find 5 free courses to get started. For example, the SEO for beginners course, the WordPress for beginners course and a course on structured data. If you’re a Yoast SEO Premium user, you get access to all 16 courses on there. Which will really help you dive into the different aspects of SEO and how to tackle them.

Finally, we have an SEO blog with numerous blog posts on SEO basics, more advanced SEO, new developments and related topics. All of this to make sure that you have all the tools you need to successfully work on SEO yourself!

Camille Cunningham

Camille is a content specialist at Yoast. As part of the Search team, she enjoys creating content that helps you master SEO.

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Google algorithm

Dec 19 2024

A brief history of Google’s algorithm updates

SEO has changed significantly over the last decade, largely because Google has continuously updated its algorithms to improve search results. These updates aim to better understand user intent, reward high-quality content, and discourage manipulative practices. From foundational changes like Panda and Penguin to more recent updates like the November and December 2024 core updates, each has shaped how websites rank and how we approach optimization. Below is a look at some of Google’s most impactful updates and what they mean for SEO today.

2011 – Panda

The Panda update marked a shift in SEO by targeting low-quality content and spammy practices. It penalized sites with thin content or those created solely to manipulate rankings, such as affiliate-heavy pages. Over time, Panda became part of Google’s core algorithm, reinforcing the need for meaningful, high-quality content that provides real value to users.

2012 – Venice

Google’s algorithm update Venice was a noteworthy update, as it showed that Google understood that searchers are sometimes looking for results that are local to them. After Venice, Google’s search results included pages based on the location you set, or your IP address.

2012 – Penguin

The Google Penguin update focused on eliminating manipulative link-building practices. It penalized sites with spammy or paid backlinks, shifting the focus to earning genuine, high-quality links. By 2016, Penguin became part of the core algorithm, emphasizing the importance of ethical and relevant link-building strategies.

2012 – Pirate

The Pirate update addressed copyright infringement by penalizing sites with repeated DMCA takedown requests. It aimed to reduce the visibility of websites sharing unauthorized content, ensuring legitimate sources were prioritized in search results. This update highlighted the importance of respecting intellectual property online.

2013 – Hummingbird

The Hummingbird update improved Google’s ability to understand the meaning behind search queries. Rather than focusing on individual keywords, it considered the entire phrase to deliver more accurate results. This shift encouraged natural, conversational content and reduced the need for over-optimized keyword stuffing. It also laid the foundation for advancements in voice search and semantic search technology.

2014 – Pigeon

Another bird-related Google update followed in 2014 with Google Pigeon, which focused on local SEO. The Pigeon update affected both the results pages and Google Maps. It led to more accurate localization, giving preference to results near the user’s location. It also aimed to make local results more relevant and higher quality, taking organic ranking factors into account.

2014 – HTTPS/SSL

Google introduced HTTPS as a ranking signal to encourage secure web connections. Sites using HTTPS gained a slight ranking advantage, promoting better data encryption and security for users. While initially a minor factor, it signaled Google’s growing focus on user safety and set the stage for security becoming a standard expectation online.

2015 – Mobile Update

Known as “Mobilegeddon,” this update prioritized mobile-friendly websites in mobile search results. As mobile usage surpassed desktop, Google aimed to ensure a better experience for users on smaller screens. While the immediate impact wasn’t drastic, it marked a clear shift toward mobile-first indexing, emphasizing the importance of mobile optimization for long-term SEO success.

2015 – RankBrain

RankBrain introduced machine learning to Google’s algorithm, helping the search engine interpret unfamiliar or complex queries. It analyzed past searches to predict the most relevant results, even for terms it hadn’t encountered before. While you can’t directly optimize for RankBrain, creating clear, helpful, and user-focused content ensures your site aligns with its goal of improving search relevance.

2016 – Possum

In September 2016 it was time for another local update. Google’s algorithm update Possum update applied several changes to Google’s local ranking filter to further improve local search. After Possum, local results became more varied, depending more on the physical location of the searcher and the phrasing of the query. Some businesses, not doing well in organic search, found it easier to rank locally after this update. This indicated that this update made local search more independent of the organic results.

2018 – (Mobile) Speed Update

The Speed Update made page load time a ranking factor for mobile searches, building on its previous importance for desktop. Slow-loading sites were more likely to see a drop in rankings, especially on mobile devices. This update reinforced the need for fast, seamless user experiences, encouraging site owners to prioritize performance optimization.

2018 – Medic

The Medic Update was a broad core algorithm change that heavily impacted “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) websites, such as health, finance, and legal sites. It appeared to prioritize expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in content, especially for topics affecting users’ well-being. While it wasn’t exclusively aimed at medical sites, it underscored the importance of credible, accurate, and user-focused information.

Keep reading: Google’s Medic update »

2019 – BERT

The BERT update (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) enhanced Google’s ability to understand the context of words in a search query. By analyzing words in relation to the ones around them, BERT improved how Google interpreted natural language and intent. This update particularly helped with more conversational or complex queries, making search results more accurate and relevant. For content creators, it emphasized the value of clear, natural writing that directly addresses user needs.

Read on: Google BERT: A better understanding of complex queries »

2021 – Page Experience Update

The Page Experience update introduced a new ranking signal combining existing factors like mobile-friendliness and HTTPS with Core Web Vitals. These metrics measured real-world user experience, focusing on loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. While content quality remained the top priority, this update emphasized the importance of delivering a smooth and user-friendly browsing experience.

Keep on reading: Page experience: a new Google ranking factor »

2021 – MUM (Multitask United Model)

Announced in 2021, MUM introduced a powerful AI system capable of processing information across multiple formats and languages. It can analyze text, images, and videos to deliver more comprehensive answers to complex queries. For example, MUM can combine insights from various sources to provide layered, context-rich results. This update signaled Google’s focus on deeper understanding and more diverse content delivery in search.

2021 – Product Reviews Update

First run in April 2021, these updates prioritized detailed, insightful product reviews over thin or generic content. Google rewarded reviews that showed expertise, included real-world usage, and helped users make informed decisions. It’s a key update for affiliate and e-commerce sites focused on providing genuine value. The update ran multiple times over the years.

2022 – Helpful Content Update

The Helpful Content Update targeted low-quality, unoriginal content designed primarily to game search rankings. Instead, it rewarded “people-first” content—material that genuinely answers user questions and provides a satisfying experience. Sites with lots of unhelpful or shallow content saw declines, while those focused on creating valuable, user-centric content were prioritized. This update reinforced the importance of writing with the audience in mind, not just search engines.

Keep reading: Google to launch Helpful Content Update to diversify search results »

2023 / 2024 – A mix of updates

Between 2023 and 2024, Google rolled out a mix of core and spam algorithm updates to enhance search quality and combat manipulative practices. Core updates focused on refining how content is evaluated, rewarding pages that provide high-quality, relevant, and trustworthy information. At the same time, spam updates targeted tactics like keyword stuffing, spammy backlinks, and low-quality AI-generated content. These changes reinforced Google’s priorities: surfacing helpful, user-focused content while penalizing manipulative SEO strategies.

2024 – Site Reputation Abuse

Google is cracking down on site reputation abuse, including parasite SEO. This tactic involves using trusted domains to host unrelated third-party content, like payday loans or casino reviews, to manipulate rankings. Sites caught violating this policy risk manual penalties, which require removing or noindexing the problematic content to recover. Legitimate uses of third-party content, such as syndicated news or user-generated material, are still allowed when properly managed.

Google algorithm updates: What’s next?

Google continues to refine its search algorithms with a growing focus on AI-driven search experiences. Recent advancements, such as Google AI Overviews, show a shift toward providing users with more intuitive and context-rich results. These tools combine AI to summarize complex topics, pull insights from multiple sources, and answer broader questions in a concise way.

Looking ahead, we can expect updates to further enhance understanding of search intent, prioritize high-quality content, and improve how information is presented. At the same time, technical factors like site speed, mobile usability, and security will remain essential. For website owners, the key is to stay adaptable by focusing on creating helpful, accurate, and user-centered content while keeping an eye on emerging AI trends in search.

Read on: Should I follow every change Google makes? »

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he worked for a top-tier web design magazine, where he developed a keen understanding of how to create great content.

Coming up next!

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments

Oct 24 2024

Google Merchant Center: A guide for ecommerce retailers

Ecommerce businesses always look for ways to improve their online presence to drive sales. Google Merchant Center (GMC) is an essential tool for achieving this, as it helps businesses showcase their products across Google’s ecosystem. This guide aims to provide retailers with an understanding of GMC. It offers useful insights on optimizing product listings and enhancing visibility on Google Shopping.

What is Google Merchant Center?

Google Merchant Center (GMC) is a free-to-use platform for ecommerce businesses that want to use Google’s extensive reach. It is a centralized hub where retailers can upload and manage product data. With this, business owners can make their products visible across various services such as Search, Maps, YouTube, and Google Shopping. Merchant Center is an important part of the ecommerce SEO puzzle.

The homepage of Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center Next is now live

With the recent upgrade to Merchant Center Next, the platform offers a more streamlined and intuitive experience. Now, it’s much easier to manage products and improve their performance.

After signing up and logging in, retailers get access to features like Product Studio, an AI-powered tool for creating product images and videos. This tool generates tailored product assets, improves image quality, and removes backgrounds. Plus, the unified product list also allows omnichannel merchants to manage online and local inventory seamlessly.

The new analytics tab provides comprehensive insights into market trends and pricing strategies. For instance, the Pricing tab in Merchant Center Analytics provides retailers with valuable insights into how their product prices compare to those seen by customers on Google.

an image showing the new overview page in google merchant center — The Google Merchant Center Next is much easier to use and comes with great new features

This tool allows merchants to evaluate their pricing strategies by seeing if their products are more expensive, cheaper, or comparable to those competitors offer. The tab offers a breakdown across various brands and products, identifying those with significant price differences. In addition, it also provides sale price suggestions designed to make you more competitive.

Merchant Center Next also has a much better design, with intuitive navigation and easy website verification options. Finally, merchants have an easy-to-understand interface to manage their product information and optimize their presence on Google. The platform’s advanced analytics tools offer a better view of business performance.

The benefits of using Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center offers significant advantages for ecommerce businesses that focus on sales growth. It increases visibility by allowing products to appear in Google Shopping results and ads, reaching millions of potential customers. This broader audience increases conversion chances.

The platform enhances the shopping experience by providing detailed product listings with high-quality images and descriptions. This helps customers make quick, informed decisions, boosting conversion rates.

GMC also provides data-driven insights through its analytics tools. These tools help businesses optimize product listings by analyzing metrics like pricing, clicks, and conversions, improving their ecommerce strategy.

Additionally, GMC supports both free and paid listings. Free listings enhance visibility for smaller businesses without extra costs, while paid ads more effectively target specific customer segments.

Integration with Google’s ecosystem is seamless. It connects with Google Analytics and Google Ads, offering a comprehensive view of marketing efforts and improving ROI measurement.

Lastly, GMC gives businesses flexibility and control over product presentation and placement. This ensures marketing efforts align with business goals. An AI-powered tool like the Product Studio also helps build robust product data, enhancing efficiency.

Setting up Google Merchant Center

You’ll need to set up a GMC account to use Google’s network to improve your ecommerce business. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you through the process:

Sign up for Merchant Center:
Visit the Google Merchant Center website and click “Sign Up for Free” to begin registering.
Provide business information:
Enter your business name, address, and contact details. This information will be used across the various features and tools in GMC. Specify your business model, whether you sell products online, in a physical store, or both. This flexibility allows GMC to tailor its features to suit your business needs.
Verify and claim your website:
Follow the instructions for the method you choose to complete the verification process. You can use an HTML file upload, an HTML tag, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, a code via a business email address, or an ecommerce platform (like Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix).
Configure shipping and tax settings:
Set up shipping options and tax information. These settings are important as they affect how your products appear in listings and ads. Highlight any special offers like free shipping to attract more customers. Comply with Google’s shipping and tax information requirements to avoid disapprovals.
Add product information:
Once your account is set up, add your product information. This involves creating a product feed, which we will cover later.

Integrating with third-party platforms

Managing product data manually can be time-consuming and prone to errors. You can automate this process by integrating Google Merchant Center with third-party ecommerce platforms. Using this process helps your product listings be consistently updated and accurate.

It’s easy to connect your ecommerce platform. In your Merchant Center account, navigate to the “Settings” menu and select “Data sources” and “Add product source” to link it. Follow the on-screen instructions to connect your platform (e.g., Shopify). This typically involves authorizing the connection and selecting the data you wish to sync.

an image showing how to add product data sources or feeds in google merchant center — Adding product data sources or feeds is also easier in Google Merchant Center

After integration, you can manage your products directly within Merchant Center. Make any necessary updates or modifications to ensure your listings remain competitive and compliant with Google’s policies.

Benefits of integrating your ecommerce platform

There are many benefits to integrating your ecommerce platform with Google Merchant Center. For one, you get automatic updates. So product information, including images, prices, and descriptions, is automatically synced from your ecommerce platform to GMC. This eliminates the need for manual data entry and reduces the risk of discrepancies.

Integrating also leads to streamlined management, as you can manage product data directly from your ecommerce platform. As a result, you’ll free up time and resources to focus on other aspects of your business. It should also lead to fewer errors in your product data. Automated syncing minimizes human errors, so the product information displayed on Google is always accurate and up-to-date.

Merchant Center product data feeds

Product data feeds (or data sources as they are now called) are the backbone of your Google Merchant Center account. These serve as the primary source of information that Google uses to display your products across its platforms. You should optimize these feeds to represent your products accurately and reach the right audience.

What is a product data feed/data source?

A product data feed or data source is a structured file containing detailed information about your products. This file includes attributes such as product titles, descriptions, prices, and images. Google uses this data to create Shopping ads and listings, so keeping it accurate and complete is critical.

Methods of adding products

Google Merchant Center offers multiple methods for uploading product data, providing flexibility to fit your business’s unique needs.

Automatic addition from your online store

Google can automatically add products from your online store using the structured data markup (schema.org) on your product pages. This method ensures that any changes made on your website, such as price updates or product availability, are reflected in Merchant Center. Simply provide your store URL and implement structured data markup on all product pages to enable automatic updates.

Connecting ecommerce platforms

We’ve already mentioned this option before. Connect platforms like Shopify and WooCommerce to Google Merchant Center to sync product data automatically. This integration ensures product information is consistently updated without manual intervention, reducing errors and saving time.

File uploads

Upload product data using a file (e.g., TSV, TXT, XML). This versatile method allows you to compile data from multiple sources into a single file. Make sure to use proper formatting to avoid errors. You can also host the file at a URL for daily syncing with Merchant Center.

Google Sheets template

You can also use a Google Sheets template to manage product data. Any changes made in the spreadsheet automatically sync with Merchant Center. This provides a user-friendly interface for managing data, with automatic updates ensuring consistency.

Manual product entry

You can manually enter product details one by one in Google Merchant Center. This is ideal for small inventories or specific product updates. It allows you to add, edit, or delete products as needed easily.

Content API for Shopping

The Content API for Shopping is a powerful tool that allows developers to programmatically manage their Google Merchant Center accounts. It offers a more dynamic and efficient way to handle large or complex product inventories. This interface lets you automate updates and maintain accurate product data across Google’s platforms.

The elements of a product data feed

Optimizing your product data source involves attention to several key elements:

Product titles: To improve search visibility, use clear, descriptive titles with relevant keywords. Avoid using promotional text or excessive punctuation.
Product descriptions: Provide detailed and accurate descriptions, highlighting unique features and specifications. Include relevant keywords naturally.
Images: Use high-quality images with a plain background. Make sure images are clear, professional, and accurately represent the product.
Prices: Keep pricing current and competitive. Keep consistency between the price on your website and in the data feed.
Availability: Update product availability regularly to reflect current stock levels. Use attributes such as “in stock,” “out of stock,” or “available for pre-order.”
Unique product identifiers: Include GTINs, MPNs, and brand information to help Google accurately categorize and display your products.

Maintaining your Merchant Center account

Regularly checking your GMC account is essential for identifying opportunities and fixing issues. It has various account monitoring tools, such as the overview page. This page provides a snapshot of your account’s performance. It highlights key metrics such as product status and performance trends. Use this page to identify items needing attention and assess the impact of recent changes.

You can use Google Merchant Center’s Products tool to identify errors and issues within your product data feed. Regularly check the “Needs attention” section for warnings and errors. Here, you’ll find missing attributes or policy violations so you can fix them to avoid product disapprovals.

The new version of Merchant Center includes a much-improved analytics section. You’ll find detailed performance reports to analyze pricing, clicks, impressions, and conversion rates here. Use these insights to understand customer behavior and make informed decisions to optimize your product listings and campaigns.

Common issues and how to fix them

Addressing issues in your Google Merchant Center account is crucial for keeping products visible and compliant. Common problems include data errors, policy violations, disapprovals, and performance issues.

For data errors, update your product feed to meet Google’s specifications, correcting any missing attributes or pricing discrepancies. Comply with Google’s Shopping policies to prevent account suspension.

Review disapproved products to identify and fix issues, then request a re-review. Optimize product titles, descriptions, and images to boost relevance. Adjust bids and targeting in Google Ads to improve visibility and reach.

Strategies for performance improvement

Implement effective strategies to boost your Google Merchant Center performance. Update your product data feed with accurate pricing and availability. Enhance product listings with detailed descriptions and high-quality images, and consider adding ratings to build trust.

Use Merchant Promotions to highlight special offers and leverage Google Ads’ audience targeting to reach specific customer segments. Test and optimize campaigns with various ad formats and bidding strategies to refine your approach. You can sustain growth and maximize your ecommerce success by actively managing your GMC account.

To maximize Google Merchant Center’s potential, leverage advanced features like Local Inventory Ads to enhance product visibility and attract local shoppers. Try out Product Studio for AI-powered content creation, streamlining the production of high-quality product assets.

Enhance customer experience by providing clear return policies and ensuring secure data collection. Integrate with tools like Google Analytics and Google Ads for comprehensive insights and targeted marketing strategies.

an example of editing product images with google product studio — Google Product Studio uses AI to help you improve your product listings

All about Google Merchant Center

Google Merchant Center is an indispensable tool for ecommerce businesses that aim to boost their online visibility and sales. By following this guide, SEO experts can harness the full potential of GMC, driving growth and achieving ecommerce success. Login to your GMC account today, start optimizing and watch your business thrive.

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is an experienced strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he worked for a top-tier web design magazine, where he developed a keen understanding of how to create great content.

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Aug 22 2024

Mastering Google Trends to improve your SEO

Staying on top of things and beating your competitors means staying on top of trends and consumer behavior. Over the years, Google quietly developed a tool that has become a staple in many SEO toolkits: Google Trends. This tool provides invaluable insights into what people are searching for. The latest update of Google Trends brings an updated Trending Now section that promises even more data on what is happening right now.

What is Google Trends?

Google Trends is a tool that analyzes the popularity of search queries over time while showing data on trending topics globally and locally. It helps marketers, researchers, and content creators understand the interest in certain topics. Many use it to make strategic decisions based on searcher interest.

The Trending Now section in Google Trends shows real-time trends. Here, you’ll find topics that are gaining significance at this moment in time. Google updates this section constantly, so you’ll always see the latest search trends come in as they happen. Creators and researchers use this data to create timely content or to gauge interest in current events.

Google Trends is an essential tool for SEO

Exploring the Google Trends update

Launched in August 2024, the latest update to Google Trends brings many enhancements that make it faster, smarter, and customizable. The updated Trending Now section promises deeper insights into current search behavior. Thanks to these new insights, you get even more options to fine-tune and expand your SEO strategy.

Enhanced real-time data processing

First, the update improves real-time data processing in the Trending Now section of Google Trends. Now, the tool gives you even quicker access to search trends. These insights allow you to better inform your content strategy with the latest trends and topics. This gives you the tools to ensure your content is timely and engaging.

According to Google, “It detects ten times as many emerging trends as before and refreshes every ten minutes on average, so you see the latest upward Search swings right as they take off.”

What does that mean in practice? For example, if you operate in the VR gaming space and there is a sudden increase in searches for a new term related to “virtual reality gaming,” you can use that to write timely content that tackles the latest games, technologies, and industry news. As a result, you might become top-of-mind with that audience.

The updated Trending Now section in Google Trends

Smarter trend analysis tools

Google Trends gives you a ton of data for free, but you need to put in the effort to make it work for you. The new update introduces smarter analytical tools that make it easier to interpret data. With these tools, you can get more detailed breakdowns of trends, which, in turn, helps you understand search behavior across different regions and demographics.

Let’s say you work in the automotive industry. With these enhanced tools, you can dissect electric vehicle trends by various options. This way, you can tailor your strategies to specific market segments. Then, you can collaborate with local dealerships and keep monitoring trends to optimize engagement and sales in key markets.

Increased customization options

There are more buttons to push and options to select. The latest Google Trends update is focused on customization, which gives you more flexibility in viewing and analyzing the data. You can tailor the data and trends to fit your needs, whatever they might be. You can focus on timeframes, geographical areas, particular industries, or more.

Improved user interface

Google Trends has improved dramatically over the years, and this time, it’s the Trending Now section to get a much more usable interface. The section is now far more intuitive to navigate and, not unimportant, easier on the eyes. This new interface makes it easier to access and interpret the trending data. As a result, it should reduce the time needed to get those insights.

The clean layout includes an improved trend graphic, which makes it much more helpful overall. Now, you can quickly spot trends and patterns that inform your content and marketing efforts, ensuring you remain agile and informed.

Using the Google Trends update for SEO

The updated Google Trends tool makes it easier to make data-driven decisions about your SEO strategies. You can tailor the tool to your needs using faster data processing, real-time insights, smarter analysis options, and various other options. You can use the resulting findings to steer your SEO and content strategies.

Using real-time insights for content creation

Google Trends has always been the go-to tool for finding out what people are searching for right now, but the update makes this even more so. The tool has even better access to real-time data and makes this available to anyone in an easy-to-understand interface.

Combined, these are things that can give you an edge over your competitors. Google Trends gives you everything you need to quickly respond to emerging trends. This helps you stay relevant with your content. It also helps you stay at the forefront of developments in your industry.

These real-time insights can also help you improve existing content. You can regularly check your content to see if there are new, timely trends, keywords, and terms that you can incorporate into your articles.

Better geographical targeting for local SEO optimization

Google Trends has always had great insights into how people worldwide search, but the latest update greatly improves that. It now gives deep insights into regional search behavior, which you can use to tailor your local SEO strategies. Google says, “This tool is now available in 125 countries, and in 40 of those, you can not only see what’s trending in the country as a whole but also dive deeper in specific regions.”

For local SEO, it’s crucial to understand how people search in those specific regional markets. You’ll also need to see the differences between various locations. If you want to succeed in your local content strategy, you need data about that.

The enhanced local features give you more options to dive deeper into local SEO data

Building a long-term content strategy

Google Trends is for more than just timely content. Of course, you can use the insights to build a robust long-term strategy. Find persisting search patterns in the data, including all relevant topics and search queries. Use these to create high-quality, helpful, evergreen content. Make sure that this stands the test of time and outperforms the competition.

This kind of long-term data helps you position your brand. It helps you establish a market position and develop a message that people will align with. This is essential if you want to beat your competitors and build a brand for the future.

Diagnosing and responding to traffic anomalies

It’s hard to analyze unexpected changes in site traffic. Google Trends can give you a little bit of insight, though. Compare your traffic data with the broader search trends to see if the fluctuations happen more broadly. The changes might happen because of external factors, like global events, seasonal shifts, or other issues.

A great example of the seasonality of a topic

Don’t forget to use Google Trends

Google Trends has been around for a long time and is now better than ever. It’s a very helpful tool that gives you tons of data on how people search on Google — even showing trending stuff that happens when it happens.

Use Google Trends to inform your SEO strategies, as it provides a data-driven foundation for making decisions. Also, remember to tap into the regional search data, which can give you ideas of what your target audience searches in specific locales.

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

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Aug 6 2024

Google ruled a monopoly; search industry braces for change

In a landmark ruling, a federal judge has declared Google a monopoly, citing the tech giant’s anticompetitive practices in maintaining its dominant position in the search engine market. This decision could have significant impacts on the search industry and digital marketing writ large, potentially reshaping the landscape for SEO strategies and paid search. As Google appeals the ruling, the entire digital ecosystem braces for changes that could introduce more competition, lower advertising costs, and increase transparency in search engine marketing.

On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Google has unlawfully maintained a monopoly in the search engine market, marking a significant victory for the U.S. Justice Department and the 35 states that brought the case against the tech giant. The court found that Google’s business practices, such as paying billions to ensure it remains the default search engine on devices like Apple and Samsung products, were designed to stifle competition and maintain its dominant position — the definition of a monopoly.

February 2024 Search Engine Market Shares according to StatCounter

Legal implications and precedents

Google immediately said it will appeal the decision. The appeals process could extend the timeline of the resolution of this case, potentially delaying any immediate changes to Google’s business practices. It’s worth noting that there was a relatively recent monopoly ruling against the NFL, which was overturned on appeal in just over a month. This suggests that while the initial ruling is a Big Deal^TM, the odds that Google will successfully overturn this decision on appeal are non-zero. Exactly how non-zero are their odds? At the risk of sounding like an SEO: it depends. These types of cases are notoriously complex. The vagaries of U.S. antitrust laws are fairly open to broad interpretation, and Google, of course, has the very best lawyers their vast mountains of money can buy. It should be noted that the NFL case was very different from the Google case and in my “I’m not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express” opinion, the cases are not analogous.

Comparisons to past antitrust cases

More so than the NFL antitrust case, the Google suit reminds me of the early 1980s antitrust suit against AT&T which resulted in the company being broken up into dozens of smaller pieces, but that was a very long time ago and the tech landscape is totally different now. Probably the most analogous antitrust suit is the 1998 case against Microsoft in which Microsoft was found to be holding “an oppressive thumb on the scale of competitive fortune.” Notably, Microsoft was not broken up into smaller pieces like AT&T, and the Microsoft case was the model the DOJ used for the Google suit. Originally, Microsoft was supposed to be divided into two halves, one for the operating system and another for the software products, but ultimately they settled with the DOJ and agreed to conduct modifications while remaining intact as a business unit. In both cases, AT&T and Microsoft survived but neither really held or reached the same level of dominance (which, I suppose, was the point). In Microsoft’s case, they were essentially hamstrung while companies like Google and Facebook basically ran roughshod over, well, everyone. It will be interesting to see what the remedy/punishment is for Google. Will it be the AT&T treatment or the Microsoft treatment? Either way, it won’t be the same business it was last week.

Implications for the US market

If the decision is upheld on appeal, it could lead to a more competitive search engine market in the US. Consumers might see more choices for default search engines on their devices, and smaller competitors could have a better chance to innovate and gain market share. This could also result in stricter regulations and oversight of large tech companies, potentially setting a precedent for future antitrust cases in the technology sector.

Implications for the EU market

In the EU, regulators have already taken a hard stance against Google’s market practices, resulting in several fines and imposed changes. This US decision could bolster the EU’s regulatory framework and encourage similar legal actions or stricter enforcement of existing rules. It may also inspire new regulations aimed at curbing the power of dominant tech companies, further promoting competition and consumer choice in the digital marketplace.

Impact on SEO and digital marketing

The ruling against Google could significantly affect the SEO and digital marketing landscape. If Google is forced to alter its business practices, it could open up the market for other search engines, leading to a more diversified search environment. (Diversification is the goal of the ruling.) This diversification could impact SEO strategies, as businesses would need to optimize for multiple search engines rather than ~~solely~~ primarily focusing on Google. Reporting will change, strategies will change, how resources and time are allocated will need to change. It will be a significant disturbance in the force.

One side effect, perhaps unintended, might be that the “rules” of SEO that we play by right now will become somewhat unenforceable because they were created by Google to close exploitable loopholes in the algorithm and other search engines might not have the same objections to them. Rules like “you can’t sell links” and the prohibition of “reputation parasite SEO” were added to modify publisher behaviors that skewed or manipulated the SERPs. We could be looking at a return, or maybe a partial return, to the halcyon days of link buying and selling, overt pay-to-play publishing, and high authority subdomain rentals.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and paid ads

For SEM and paid ads, the decision could lead to changes in Google’s advertising model. If Google is required to reduce its control over the search market, there might be more opportunities for advertisers to explore alternative platforms. This could potentially lower the cost-per-click (CPC) on Google Ads due to increased competition and provide more options for advertisers looking to diversify their ad spend across different platforms.

Advertisers may also benefit from improved ad transparency and fairer bidding processes, as regulatory scrutiny could enforce stricter guidelines on how ads are served and priced. The overall effect could be a more competitive and equitable digital advertising ecosystem, benefiting both advertisers and consumers.

However, lower paid search costs for advertisers will translate to lower revenues for publishers whose business model revolves around revenue from CPM, PPC and PPA ads or affiliate relationships. A reduction in ad prices would translate to less revenue, potentially impacting their ability to produce content, maintain staff, and invest in new technologies. This shift could drive publishers to seek alternative monetization strategies, such as subscription models, sponsored content, or diversified advertising partnerships.

Final thoughts

Ultimately, if this decision is not overturned on appeal, the digital marketing ecosystem should expect a major shift in dynamics, where both new opportunities and new challenges will emerge as a result of increased competition and regulatory changes.

Carolyn Shelby

Carolyn Shelby is a seasoned SEO expert with a knack for making complex digital strategies accessible to everyone. She specializes in technical SEO, she excels at optimizing web architectures and crafting strategies that enhance visibility and drive growth. Carolyn views SEO as a powerful tool to narrate a brand’s journey, aligning content with core values to engage and convert audiences. Her approach is data-driven yet distinctly human. She uses straightforward, innovative methods to engage audiences and see real results.

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Google algorithm Holistic SEO

Jul 25 2024

Elevating author and publisher entities in SEO

The SEO community has been buzzing following the release of internal Google documents, revealing more details about how author and publisher entities influence search rankings. These insights help you strategically optimize your author and publisher profiles. This article will explore these entities and give you some actionable strategies to incorporate their optimization into your existing SEO practices.

Tracking author and publisher entities

The leaked documents confirm that Google tracks and retains content authorship and publisher credibility data. These elements help the ranking algorithms. The rationale behind this is straightforward: credible and authoritative content is more likely to be accurate, reliable, and useful to users. Therefore, content attributed to recognized authors and reputable publishers is favored in search results.

Optimizing author and publisher entities

As interpreted by various sources, the Google document leak indicates that author and publisher entities play significant roles in search rankings. However, it does not clearly show whether one is inherently more important than the other. Instead, it highlights the complementary nature of these entities in establishing content credibility and authority.

Recently, Google’s Gary Illyes shed light on specific signals that are not considered beneficial for SEO. This emphasizes the importance of genuine user engagement and content quality rather than relying on easily manipulated elements. The following are signals Google deems less effective in contributing to your site’s search performance.

Authorship markup: Google’s Gary Illyes mentioned that authorship markup, which is controlled by SEOs and site owners, is generally not considered a good signal for ranking purposes.
Controlled markup: Any markup that can be easily manipulated by site owners or SEOs is not typically viewed as a reliable signal by Google.
Quality signals: Google prefers signals that are harder to manipulate and more reflective of genuine user engagement and content quality.

While Google may describe certain signals as “not good signals,” it’s important to note that they are still considered signals. This situation is reminiscent of the famous exchange in “Pirates of the Caribbean”:

“You’re the worst pirate I’ve ever heard of.”
“But you have heard of me.”

In other words, even if these signals aren’t the best, they still have some recognition in SEO.

Practical implications

Google’s comprehensive approach to assessing online content trustworthiness involves many signals and metrics. Publishers can enhance their trustworthiness by focusing on content freshness, originality, structured data, and robust anti-spam practices. Their history further aids in evaluating long-term credibility, encouraging them to maintain high-quality standards consistently.

The Google document leak highlights the importance of both author and publisher entities in SEO. A balanced approach that optimizes both can significantly enhance content credibility and authority. Focus on detailed and accurate author and publisher profiles, leverage structured data, and employ tools like Yoast SEO. SEOs can build a strong foundation for improving search engine rankings and driving organic traffic.

Establishing credible author profiles

Building up your author profile is essential today. But you shouldn’t just limit yourself to building your profile; you should also make sure to present it properly on your publisher’s website. That means you have to build great author pages as well.

But how do you create detailed bio pages? Authors should have a dedicated bio page with qualifications, expertise, and a professional headshot. This page should be linked to all articles written by the author. For example: If Jane Doe writes for your publication, create a page like yourwebsite.com/authors/jane-doe that includes her bio, credentials, and links to all her articles.

On that author page, you should also include social proof. Incorporate links to the author’s social media profiles, professional networks like LinkedIn, and any notable publications they have contributed to. For example, on Jane Doe’s bio page, link to her LinkedIn profile and any major publications where her work has appeared.

Your author pages should have a solid foundation built on structured data, so implement schema markup. Use structured data to tag author information on each article. This helps search engines recognize and index author details accurately.

For example, add JSON-LD markup to each article page, including the author’s name, bio, and profile URL.

Use the Yoast SEO plugin’s schema framework to add author markup seamlessly. Yoast’s adaptable schema structure ensures all necessary author and publisher information is included and properly formatted.

Enhancing publisher credibility

What works for authors also works for publishers — these things go together. Don’t focus on just your authors; make sure you also put your publication in the spotlight.

Start by making it easy to find information about your publisher. Like author bio pages, create a dedicated publisher page detailing the organization’s mission, history, and achievements. Include logos, awards, and other forms of social proof. For example, create a page like yourwebsite.com/about-us/ that includes your publication’s background, mission statement, and accolades.

It’s important to prove who you are and what you stand for. List editorial policies, team members, and contact information to ensure transparency. For example, on the “About Us” page, include a section detailing your editorial guidelines and a list of key editorial staff with their bios.

Then, like enhancing authors, roll out structured data for your publishing house. Use Organization markup as implement schema markup provides search engines with detailed information about you. This includes the name, logo, contact details, and social media profiles.

Here’s a very basic example: Add JSON-LD markup to your publisher page including your organization’s name, logo, and contact information.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Your Organization",
  "logo": "https://yourwebsite.com/logo.png",
  "url": "https://yourwebsite.com",
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "telephone": "+1-800-555-5555",
    "contactType": "Customer Service"
  }
}

Again, be sure to use Yoast SEO for your structured data needs. Its schema framework allows you to efficiently add and manage organization markup, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

Combining author and publisher strategies

As mentioned, it’s not one or the other strategy — combine your efforts to make the most of it. Only then can Google truly understand your authors and publications.

This means that you must unify your branding across all content. Ensure that all content consistently reflects the brand’s voice and values. This includes using uniform author bios and publisher information across different platforms. For example, ensure that every article Jane Doe writes includes a standardized author bio snippet linking to her full bio page.

In addition, you should always attribute content to verified authors and the publisher, reinforcing credibility. For example, at the end of each article, include a byline such as “Written by Jane Doe, Senior Editor at Your Organization.”

Focus on content quality, relevance, and topical expertise

You can highlight your publications and authors all you want, but you will never make it without your topical experts writing high-quality, relevant content. This should be at the top of everyone’s list.

Focus on producing high-quality, original content that adds value to readers. This enhances the reputation of both the author and the publisher. Conduct thorough research and provide in-depth analysis in your articles to establish expertise and authority.

Encourage authors to write within their areas of expertise to build authority in specific niches. For example, if Jane Doe specializes in SEO, make sure she writes predominantly on SEO-related topics.

Actionable SEO strategies

You can also use classic SEO tactics to build your authors and publishers’ reputations. For instance, you could encourage your authors to contribute to reputable external sites to get a link to their bio pages. This builds both author and publisher authority.

Also, try to build up your citations. Find ways and outlets to get your content cited or mentioned by authoritative sources. You could contact industry influencers to review and mention your content in their articles or social media posts.

Keep everything up to date

Regularly update bio and publisher pages with new achievements, publications, and credentials. For example, you could enhance Jane Doe’s bio page with her latest speaking engagements, citations, and published articles. Also, periodically update older content to keep it relevant and accurate, maintaining the credibility of both authors and the publisher.

Entity SEO and its importance for publishers

Entity SEO focuses on optimizing for entities—people, places, organizations, and things—rather than just keywords. Google’s algorithms leverage the Knowledge Graph to understand and rank entities based on their relationships and attributes. Publishers should also focus on entity SEO.

One of the foundations of entity SEO is helping Google recognize your entities. One way to do that is to implement structured data. This helps Google recognize and categorize entities accurately. This includes using schema markup for authors, publishers, and organizations. You can use schema markup to define relationships between authors, their articles, and the publisher.

Together with structured data, linking your entities is a staple of Entity SEO. Make sure that internal links connect related entities within your content. For example, link an author’s bio page to their articles and the publisher page.

Be consistent in your entities. Maintain consistent information about entities across various platforms and websites. Inconsistencies can confuse search engines and harm rankings.

Last but not least, try to improve your chances of being included in Google’s Knowledge Graph. Make sure that you provide comprehensive and accurate information. For example, submit your organization and key authors to Wikidata and ensure their information is accurate and up-to-date.

Leveraging structured data and Yoast SEO

Structured data is the backbone of effective SEO for author and publisher entities. It enables search engines to understand and index content more accurately, making attributing credibility to the proper sources easier. The Yoast SEO plugin offers a robust schema framework that simplifies the implementation of structured data.

Yoast SEO provides a comprehensive and adaptable schema framework that supports various schema types, including author and organization markup. This ensures all necessary information is included and formatted correctly, enhancing visibility in search results.

Use Yoast SEO to add structured data to all relevant pages, including author bio pages, publisher information, and individual articles. The plugin’s user-friendly interface makes it easy to manage and update schema markup as needed.

Conclusion

The recent Google document leak has highlighted the critical role of author and publisher entities in SEO. SEOs can significantly enhance a website’s authority and trustworthiness by adopting a structured approach to optimizing these entities.
Implementing detailed author and publisher pages, leveraging structured data, and utilizing tools like Yoast SEO can create a solid foundation for improved search engine rankings.

Integrating these insights into current SEO practices will help build a credible and authoritative online presence, ultimately driving more organic traffic and engagement.

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

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Google algorithm Holistic SEO

Jun 13 2024

The Google Leak: insights and implications for SEO best practices

In the SEO universe, paradigm shifting insights can suddenly appear out of nowhere, like a decloaking warbird a little too close to the neutral zone, catching even the most seasoned captains by surprise. The recent Google API leak has sent such a shockwave through the SEO quadrant, igniting intense discussions and debates within the community. We’ve laid in a course to navigate the nebula of this new information, examining the implications of the leak and how it correlates with Yoast’s established SEO protocols, providing clear guidance amidst these cosmic shifts.

Yoast’s perspective on understanding The Leak:

The contents of the leaked documents do not contain the secret recipe for the algorithm. They are lists of API calls that can retrieve specific bits of information from the data that Google is tracking and storing. When reading through the API documentation, remember that presence or existence is not definite confirmation of current use. Please do not confuse existence with use, or mistake any of the data points included in the leak as “proof” that “Google’s been lying to us!” The existence or presence of certain data points in Google’s API documentation does not mean those data points are actively being used as ranking factors in the algorithm. The only thing confirmed is that the data is collected and stored for potential use, but the existence of the data itself does not prove it is actively used in the ranking algorithm.

Personally, I like to think of the information collected as ingredients in the pantry. I can assemble them in a number of different ways and in different amounts to make a variety of recipes. They’re useful to have handy; however, the fact that they’re in the pantry doesn’t mean I am definitely using them in the recipe I am cooking right now. However, it is possible I will use some of those ingredients to make dinner tomorrow — or maybe next week. The point is, I keep them on hand so I have options, and that is why Google is collecting the data, to have options when testing or modifying the algorithm.

At Yoast, we believe in equipping our users with tools and knowledge that stand the test of time and tide. The recent leak does not change our core philosophy; rather, it reinforces our commitment to adhering to SEO best practices.

Clarifying the Leak’s contents:

API documentation vs. algorithmic use: The leaked documents reveal API calls to a data warehouse, not direct insights into the algorithm’s operational mechanics. Because the data is being tracked and stored, does not mean it is actively used for ranking, but it also doesn’t mean it isn’t.
Long-term data storage: The data points revealed confirm that Google maintains a kind of ‘permanent record’ of a site’s performance and usage data (if you went to public school in the US, you’ll know what a permanent record is). This underscores the importance of maintaining consistent, quality SEO practices over the life of a domain.
Potential data utilization:
- Usage data and performance metrics: Data from sources like Chrome, tracking speed, and user interaction, highlight the breadth of Google’s data collection, which could influence or be used in future algorithm updates.
- Non-link mentions and click data: The storage of click data and non-link mentions suggests a broader scope of interest in metrics that many believed were not being tracked or used in the algorithm. Any or all of these could be tested or integrated into ranking factors at any point, or could be used currently.

Key takeaways and recommendations:

Transparency and behavior: Everything is potentially recorded, so engage in SEO practices with the awareness that any ‘cheaty’ behavior not only risks penalties but may also impact your site’s long-term reputation and performance.
Comprehensive optimization: Optimize all aspects of your site’s performance, from speed to user engagement, not just for current benefits but for future-proofing against potential algorithm updates that might use some of the other data being recorded and stored.

Conclusion

The Google Leak, while certainly not a nothing-burger, isn’t quite the massive disturbance in the subspace continuum we originally thought. It is absolutely interesting and the potential uses of some of the data points are fascinating to contemplate, but ultimately, this is a reminder of the complex, evolving/mutating nature of SEO. It’s also a reminder that it is not enough to just adapt to immediate changes, but to consistently practice a holistic, ethical approach to SEO. At Yoast, we continue to support our community by providing tools that guide you through these uncharted galaxies with integrity and foresight.

Carolyn Shelby

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Jun 3 2024

How does Google understand text?

At Yoast, we talk a lot about writing and readability. We consider it an essential part of SEO. Your text needs to be easy to follow and it needs to satisfy your users’ needs. This focus on your user will help your rankings. However, we rarely talk about how search engines like Google read and understand these texts. In this post, we’ll explore what we know about how Google analyzes your online content.

Are we sure Google understands text?

We know that Google understands text to some degree. Just think about it. One of the most important things Google has to do is match what someone types into the search bar to a suitable search result. User signals (like click-through and bounce rates) alone won’t help Google to do this properly. Moreover, we know that it’s possible to rank for a keyword that you don’t use in your text (although it’s still good practice to identify and use one or more specific keywords). So clearly, Google does something to actually read and assess your text in some way or another.

How Google understands text

Back to our initial question: How does Google understand text? To be honest, we don’t know this in detail. Unfortunately, that information isn’t freely available. And we also know, that Google is continuously evolving their ability to understand text online. But there are some clues that we can draw conclusions from. We know that Google has taken big steps when it comes to understanding context. We also know that the search engine tries to determine how words and concepts are related to each other. How do we know this? By keeping an eye on any news surrounding Google’s algorithm and considering how the actual search results pages have changed.

Word embeddings

One interesting technique Google has filed patents for and worked on is called word embedding. The goal is to find out what words are closely related to other words. A computer program is fed a certain amount of text. It then analyzes the words in that text and determines what words tend to appear together. Then, it translates every word into a series of numbers. This allows the words to be represented as a point in space in a diagram, like a scatter plot. This diagram shows what words are related in what ways. More accurately, it shows the distance between words, sort of like a galaxy made up of words. So for example, a word like “keywords” would be much closer to “copywriting” than it would be to say “kitchen utensils”.

Interestingly, this can also be done for phrases, sentences and paragraphs. The bigger the dataset you feed the program, the better it will be able to categorize and understand words and work out how they’re used and what they mean. And, what do you know, Google has a database of the entire internet. With a dataset like that, it’s possible to create very reliable models that predict and assess the value of text and context.

From word embeddings, it’s only a small step to the concept of related entities. Let’s take a look at the search results to illustrate what related entities are. If you type in “types of pasta”, this is what you’ll see right at the top of the SERP: a heading called “pasta varieties”, with a number of rich results that include a ton of different types of pasta. These pasta varieties are even subcategorized into “ribbon pasta”, “tubular pasta”, and other subtypes of pasta. And there are lots of similar SERPs that reflect how words and concepts are related to each other.

After typing [types of pasta] Google now shows this entity-based rich result

The related entities patent that Google has filed actually mentions the related entities index database. This is a database that stores concepts or entities, like pasta. These entities also have characteristics. Lasagna, for example, is a pasta. It’s also made of dough. And it’s food. Now, by analyzing the characteristics of entities, they can be grouped and categorized in all kinds of different ways. This allows Google to understand how words are related, and, therefore, to understand context.

Google has heavily invested in NLP

Natural language processing is the understanding of language by machines. It is one of the hardest parts of computer science and one where the most advances are being made. Today, with a world increasingly powered by systems run by AI, proper language understanding is key. Google understands this and invests a ton in the development of NLP models. One key system was BERT, a model that could understand the text coming after the content words and before those words. This way, the system has the full context of a sentence to make proper sense of its meaning. What BERT did is awesome, but Google is doing more. Meet MUM.

MUM: Google’s language model

In 2021, Google introduced a new language model that can multitask: MUM. This means that this model can read text, understand its meaning, form a deeper knowledge about the subject, use other media to enrich that knowledge, get insights from more than 75 languages and translate everything into content that answers complex search queries. All at the same time.

Google's MUM language model — A visual representation of how Google MUM works (image from Google’s blog)

Does the rise of AI change all of this?

Over the past year, we’ve seen a lot of developments in the area of AI. Naturally, Google could not stay behind and introduced their own set of tools including the well-known AI model Gemini. Most recently, they introduced AI overviews in their search engine. And you might have already guessed it, but natural language processing models come in handy when you’re developing AI features. So Google’s ongoing research into NLP and machine learning is not slowing down anytime soon.

Practical conclusions

So, how does Google understand text exactly? What we know leads us to two very important points:

1. Context is key

If Google understands context, it’s likely to assess and judge context as well. The better your copy matches Google’s notion of the context, the better its chances of ranking well. So thin copy with a limited scope is going to be at a disadvantage. You need to cover your topics properly and in enough detail. And on a larger scale, covering related concepts and presenting a full body of work on your site will reinforce your authority on the topic you write about and specialize in.

2. Write for your reader

Texts that are easy to read and reflect relationships between concepts don’t just benefit your readers, they help Google as well. Difficult, inconsistent and poorly structured writing is more difficult to understand for both humans and machines. You can help the search engine understand your texts by focusing on:

Readability: making your text as easy to read as possible without compromising your message.
Proper structure: adding clear subheadings and using transition words.
Good content: adding clear explanations that show how what you’re saying relates to what’s already known about a topic.

The better you do, the easier your users and Google will understand your text and what it tries to achieve. Which also helps you rank with the right pages when a user types in a certain search query. Especially because Google is basically creating a model that mimics the way humans process language and information.

Google wants to be a reader

In the end, it boils down to this: Google is becoming more and more like an actual reader. By writing rich content that is well-structured and easy to read and embedded into the context of the topic at hand, you’ll improve your chances of doing well in the search results.

Camille Cunningham

Camille is a content specialist at Yoast. As part of the Search team, she enjoys creating content that helps you master SEO.

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May 24 2024

What is ‘Crawled – currently not indexed’ in Search Console?

Google Search Console (GSC) is a powerful tool for site owners. It helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in the SERPs. One of the common issues you might encounter is the “Crawled — currently not indexed” status. This message means that Google has crawled your page but hasn’t indexed it. As a result, your page won’t appear in search results, which can affect your site’s traffic.

It is important to understand why this happens and how to fix it. Here, we’ll explain the “Crawled — currently not indexed” status and provide tips to help you improve your site’s indexing and visibility.

What is “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed” in GSC?

The “Crawled — currently not indexed” status in Search Console means that Google has crawled your page but has not indexed it. This status indicates that while Google knows your page exists, it hasn’t added it to its search index. As a result, the page won’t appear in the SERPs.

This status can occur for several reasons. It might be due to content quality, technical issues, or even Google’s indexing process. Understanding why this happens is the first step in resolving the issue. By addressing the factors that lead to this status, you can improve your chances of getting your pages indexed and visible in search results.

An example of a site with many Crawled – currently not indexed errors in Google Search Console

But first…

Before we continue, you must understand the crawling and indexing process. In short, before your content can appear in search engine results, it goes through three key stages: crawling, indexing, and ranking.

Crawling

Search engines use automated bots called crawlers or spiders to discover new and updated pages. These bots follow links from known pages to new ones, exploring and recording the web’s content.

Indexing

After crawling, the search engine processes and stores the information it finds. It analyzes the content, keywords, and usability and then adds valuable pages to its index.

Ranking

When a user searches, the search engine retrieves relevant pages from its index and ranks them based on relevance, authority, and user experience. Higher-ranked pages appear at the top of search results, attracting more traffic.

If you have that error message, the process stalls during indexing. For reasons unknown, your content does not move on to the ranking phase.

Reasons why this happens

Many factors can cause the “Crawled – currently not indexed” status in Google Search Console. Google may determine your content isn’t valuable or unique enough to be indexed. Duplicate content or thin content with little value can lead to this status.

Technical problems can also prevent Google from indexing your pages. These issues might include server errors, incorrect robots.txt configuration, or the presence of noindex tags. A poorly organized website can make it difficult for Google to understand and index your content. The lack of a clear hierarchy and insufficient internal linking can contribute to this problem.

Sometimes, Google simply needs more time to index new or recently updated content. This is especially true for new websites or pages. Addressing these factors can improve your chances of getting your pages indexed and appearing in search results.

Google’s changing indexing priorities

There’s another aspect to all of this. Due to the vast amount of content generated daily, Google has become more critical and uses fewer resources to process new pages. With the rise of generative AI, there’s a significant overlap in content, leading Google to be more selective about what it indexes. The recent updates, including the Helpful Content Update and the March 2024 Core Update, reflect this shift.

This means you might mean you need to ask yourself the following question:

Why should Google even index your page?

Given the vast amount of similar content out there, Google needs a compelling reason to index your page. Here’s why your content should stand out:

Originality: Unique content that offers new insights or information is more likely to be indexed.
Value: Content that genuinely helps or informs users will be prioritized.
Quality: Google’s algorithms favor high-quality, well-written content with good structure and readability.

Tips to fix “Crawled – Currently Not Indexed”

Improving content quality, resolving technical issues, and optimizing your website’s structure is essential to address the “Crawled – currently not indexed” status.

Fix your content

Ensure your content is original and provides value to your audience. Avoid duplicate content. Cover topics thoroughly to offer in-depth information that meets user needs. Make your content as engaging and informative as possible.

Make sure your robots.txt file is not blocking Google from crawling your pages. Use Search Console to test your robots.txt file. If you want your pages indexed, verify that they do not have noindex tags. Use the Inspect URL tool in GSC to check. Resolve any 5xx server errors that may prevent Google from accessing your pages. Regularly monitor server logs for issues. Optimize crawling with Yoast SEOs tailored tools.

Improve your site structure

Organize your website with a clear structure, using categories and subcategories to help Google understand the relationships between your pages. Use internal links to connect related content and help Google navigate your site more effectively. Implement breadcrumb navigation to improve site structure and user experience.

Generate an XML sitemap that lists all the important pages on your website. This helps Google discover and crawl your pages more efficiently. Upload the XML sitemap Yoast SEO generates for your site to Search Console. This ensures that Google knows all your pages and can crawl them more easily.

Patience, please

Understand that indexing can take time, especially for new websites. Be patient and monitor your indexing status regularly. Regularly check Google Search Console for any issues related to crawling and indexing. Address any warnings or errors promptly. Keep track of changes you make to your site and monitor their impact on indexing and search visibility.

Additional best practices

Consider these additional SEO best practices to improve your indexing chances and enhance your site’s performance.

Add content regularly to keep your site relevant and valuable. Fresh content can attract more visitors and encourage Google to crawl your site more frequently. In addition, you should periodically review and update older content to ensure it remains accurate and useful.

Try to improve engagement on your site. Engaged users can signal to Google that your content is valuable. Promote your content on social media to increase visibility and drive traffic. Social signals can indirectly influence your SEO.

Ensure your site performs well on mobile devices. Google’s indexing processes work from a mobile perspective, so a good mobile user experience is crucial. Optimize your site’s loading speed. Faster pages provide a better user experience and can improve your search rankings.

Write guest posts for reputable websites in your niche. Quality backlinks from authoritative sites can boost your own site’s credibility. Create valuable content that others want to link to. Natural backlinks can improve your site’s authority and indexing.

Addressing the “Crawled – currently not indexed” status

Addressing the “Crawled – currently not indexed” status in Google Search Console is necessary if you want to improve your site’s visibility. Understanding the reasons behind this status and implementing practical solutions can enhance your chances of getting indexed.

Focus on improving content quality, resolving technical issues, and optimizing your website’s structure. Regularly update your content, engage with users, and monitor your site’s performance. These efforts will help you maintain a solid online presence and ensure your content reaches your audience.

Edwin Toonen

Edwin is a strategic content specialist. Before joining Yoast, he spent years honing his skill at The Netherlands’ leading web design magazine.

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Table of contents

Say hello to Google’s AI Mode

Search becomes a lot smarter

How Google AI Mode works in practice

The focus of content is changing

What does Google AI Mode mean for SEO?

Where it’s going

How to access Google AI Mode

Meet Google’s AI Mode

What is SEO?

Organic vs paid search

Why SEO is important for site owners

Huge volume of searches

SEO is intent-driven

Competitive advantage

Types of SEO

The 3 pillars of SEO

Technical SEO

On-page SEO

Off-page SEO

SEO Ranking factors

SEO now vs early days: a brief history

SEO in the 90’s

Search engines evolving

SEO in 2025

Setting SEO Goals

How to learn SEO and get started

Start with the basics

How we can help you

Table of contents

2011 – Panda

2012 – Venice

2012 – Penguin

2012 – Pirate

2013 – Hummingbird

2014 – Pigeon

2014 – HTTPS/SSL

2015 – Mobile Update

2015 – RankBrain

2016 – Possum

2018 – (Mobile) Speed Update

2018 – Medic

2019 – BERT

2021 – Page Experience Update

2021 – MUM (Multitask United Model)

2021 – Product Reviews Update

2022 – Helpful Content Update

2023 / 2024 – A mix of updates

2024 – Site Reputation Abuse

Google algorithm updates: What’s next?

Coming up next!

Table of contents

What is Google Merchant Center?

Google Merchant Center Next is now live

The benefits of using Merchant Center

Setting up Google Merchant Center

Integrating with third-party platforms

Benefits of integrating your ecommerce platform

Merchant Center product data feeds

What is a product data feed/data source?

Methods of adding products

Automatic addition from your online store

Connecting ecommerce platforms

File uploads

Google Sheets template

Manual product entry

Content API for Shopping

The elements of a product data feed

Maintaining your Merchant Center account

Common issues and how to fix them

Strategies for performance improvement

All about Google Merchant Center

Coming up next!

What is Google Trends?

Exploring the Google Trends update

Enhanced real-time data processing

Smarter trend analysis tools

Increased customization options

Improved user interface

Using the Google Trends update for SEO