March was another busy month in the world of SEO with lots of Google news.
The first big announcement was that Google is sunsetting Google Analytics 3 (also known as Universal Analytics) in July next year and moving solely to Google Analytics 4 – which we have already installed on our client’s websites. We will be transitioning reports over to GA4 metrics rather than GA3 metrics over the coming months as well, so client reports may look a little different in the future.
Google also launched Visual Stories in the United States mobile search results. Visual Stories are a different type of content that Google algorithmically selects to show to users – but it still relates to a page on a website with images, text and links. Worth keeping an eye on, as things that work well in the United States tend to be launched in the UK as well.
Google also refined its search options in March as well, with the introduction of “refine this search” and “broaden this search” options to help users with their search journey. These refinements are aimed at helping searchers with topics they are not an expert on but focusing on the topic and journey rather than just the keyword. This is important from an SEO point of view as it shows that your content should cover related concepts and terms to your targeted keywords and use internal links to cross-reference to other relevant content on your website.
Talking of internal linking, Google also reiterated the importance of it for SEO in March. John Mueller, Google’s Search Advocate, stated that internal linking is one of the most important things you can do on your website to tell Google what content is most important. Internal linking has always been a big focus for us here at Zool as it is one of the parts of Google’s algorithm that we have control over, and we can get results from it.
Then last, but not least, Google announced its product reviews updated guidelines which Google released to show what it takes to ensure product reviews in search come from people who are knowledgeable and who have actually used the product – so trustworthy and reliable advice. It is worth reading these guidelines even if you don’t use product reviews, as they show how Google is thinking about content in a broader sense.
SEO News Round-up for March 2022
Digital SEO / Apr 4, 2022
March was another busy month in the world of SEO with lots of Google news.
The first big announcement was that Google is sunsetting Google Analytics 3 (also known as Universal Analytics) in July next year and moving solely to Google Analytics 4 – which we have already installed on our client’s websites. We will be transitioning reports over to GA4 metrics rather than GA3 metrics over the coming months as well, so client reports may look a little different in the future.
Google also launched Visual Stories in the United States mobile search results. Visual Stories are a different type of content that Google algorithmically selects to show to users – but it still relates to a page on a website with images, text and links. Worth keeping an eye on, as things that work well in the United States tend to be launched in the UK as well.
Google also refined its search options in March as well, with the introduction of “refine this search” and “broaden this search” options to help users with their search journey. These refinements are aimed at helping searchers with topics they are not an expert on but focusing on the topic and journey rather than just the keyword. This is important from an SEO point of view as it shows that your content should cover related concepts and terms to your targeted keywords and use internal links to cross-reference to other relevant content on your website.
Talking of internal linking, Google also reiterated the importance of it for SEO in March. John Mueller, Google’s Search Advocate, stated that internal linking is one of the most important things you can do on your website to tell Google what content is most important. Internal linking has always been a big focus for us here at Zool as it is one of the parts of Google’s algorithm that we have control over, and we can get results from it.
Then last, but not least, Google announced its product reviews updated guidelines which Google released to show what it takes to ensure product reviews in search come from people who are knowledgeable and who have actually used the product – so trustworthy and reliable advice. It is worth reading these guidelines even if you don’t use product reviews, as they show how Google is thinking about content in a broader sense.
