MAY 2017 SEO UPDATES
- Google’s Chrome will add new ‘Not secure’ warnings later this year
- Google Tests Dropping The Featured Snippet Result From Core Results?
- Bing begins incorporating bots into local search
- Google is updating its core ranking algorithm
- Google AdWords segments Paid & Organic report by device
1. Google’s Chrome will add new ‘Not secure’ warnings later this year
Google has shared that its Chrome browser will, from now on, include a warning on non-secure sites that have search boxes or forms. Google hopes this will encourage webmasters who haven’t migrated to a secure (https) site to do so.
What It means:
This update gives webmasters added incentive to make the migration from non-secure (http) sites to secure (https). Having a secure site already gives webmasters a small boost in Google’s ranking algorithm. With these new warnings for search boxes and forms on http sites, webmasters with non-secure sites could see their engagement and conversion metrics impacted further. Now, more than ever, webmasters should consider migrating from non-secure to secure if they haven’t already.
2. Google Tests Dropping the Featured Snippet Result From Core Results?
Google is making changes to the way it serves up its rich snippet and quick answer results. Previously, pages that generated a rich snippet or quick answer also received a regular listing for the page below the snippet in results. Google has been testing removing the regular listing. If a site’s page generates a quick answer or rich snippet for a keyword or phrase, the page will no longer receive an additional regular listing for that term.
What it means:
Impact should be minimal, with rich snippets and quick answers still valuable result types. However, pages that generate quick answers and rich snippets will no longer push competitors as far down the results page without the additional regular listing. This could result in a small drop in organic traffic to pages that generate rich snippets and quick answers.
3. Bing begins incorporating bots into local search
Microsoft is starting to include chat options in local search results for restaurants. The feature is intended to create a more seamless transactional & informational search experience across channels and platforms (Bing, Skype, SMS, Facebook, and Cortana), and meet the needs of the rapidly growing voice search market.
What it means:
Search engines are starting to respond to the growing use of voice search. Google will likely respond with a similar feature. Although only rolled out to restaurants in the Seattle area, businesses should plan to opt into the feature when it reaches their industry. Collective Measures will watch for additional developments.
4. Google is updating its core ranking algorithm
Google appears to be in the middle of a large algorithm update. Over the last week, third-party rank trackers have detected significant volatility in search results. While not confirmed by Google, many in the industry are speculating the update mostly concerns content quality (Google’s Panda algorithm).
What it means:
Expect short-term periods of rank and organic traffic volatility, followed by a return to normal performance patterns. Continue following modern SEO best practices of creating content that provides the most value to customers. Collective Measures is closely monitoring client SEO performance, and will notify clients if the update impacts results.
5. Google AdWords segments Paid & Organic report by device
Google has updated its paid & organic report to allow analysis at the device level. The report is important for determining the symbiotic relationship between paid & organic search listings.
What it means:
Customers behave differently on mobile & desktop devices. An updated paid & organic report makes it much easier to analyze performance & keyword value based on the device type. Decisions around co-optimization can be tailored to fit the best performing or most important device type for the keyword, topic, or website page.
