Getting your website to rank with Google can seem like a nonstop, uphill battle. With over 200 factors that Google’s search algorithm looks for and millions of other websites competing for page rank, the battle is genuinely a hard fight.
That fight is going to become even harder starting this June, as Google is making a sizable update to their search algorithm.
There are a lot of great articles out there that go in depth on the specific technical factors Google is prioritizing in this new algorithm update, but here are some of the important changes you need to be aware about.
Number one. Mobile first
It’s no surprise that with more than 50% of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, Google is going to put a higher degree of emphasis on sites with optimized mobile webpages. Building great web design for a large screen form factor like a computer is doable, but making things look great on such a small screen is certainly more difficult. That said, it is vitally important that your website has a great mobile experience for when the algorithm update comes to into existence.
Number two. Site speed.
When it comes to website speed, Google breaks this down between mobile and desktop, and looks at multiple particular aspects to a pages speed. First contentful paint, speed index, largest contentful paint, time to interactive, total blocking time, and cumulative layout shift. If you want to stay on top with Google, you must address your sites speed with respect to these aspects.
Number three. Alt Image Tags
Making sure you set all image description is something you should always have been doing with Google, but it’s even more important now. These descriptions functionally tell Google what images on your website are. They should relate to your keywords and should be no more than a few words altogether
Number four. All pages of your website must have value
Over the years, Google’s search algorithm has gotten smart enough to suss out and deprioritize websites that have gone on with keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is where you simply load a ton of keywords related to terms you would like to rank within your website regardless of how it may actually read or be perceived to a real human. Google is taking this update even further, by looking at the value of each page on your website. To unpack this a bit further, often times we build webpages that are supplemental to a main page we know customers or prospective customers will engage with. The goal of the secondary pages is to bolster keyword relativity, and subsequently help rank your website higher. Google is working to put measures into place that will make this strategy less effective.
These are just a few of the things that need to be addressed with your website.
If you are looking for an expert to review your site for potential technical errors, be sure to schedule a strategy call with our team!
Book a discovery call with our team today to learn more!
Visit us at https://tier3agency.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tier3agency/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tier3agency
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tier3agency/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tier3agency
