So far, there has been two Google algorithm updates in 2019; one in March and the other in June. These updates have caused fluctuations in rankings for a majority of the websites. Some sites, on the other hand, felt little or no impact at all.
Unfortunately, most webmasters view these Google algorithm updates as random, and they leave them confused on how to proceed, especially on how to recapture their lost rankings. These updates are extensions of the August 2018 update known as ‘The Medic Update.’
What the Google Algorithm Updates Mean For Webmasters
These are the main take away points from the 2019 updates:
More Diverse Results
There have been complaints that Google shows too many listings on the SERP from one domain. With the updates, Google will not show more than two results from the domain, which is down from 4 or 5 that would appear.
However, Google reserves the right to show more than two results if the domain has the relevant content to provide answers to the searchers’ queries. This is mainly when the queries are about a brand.
Sub-domains
According to the Google updates, Google will treat subdomains as part of the main domain. This means that your blog will be treated as part of your website. With that said, Google still reserves the right to treat some sub-domains differently for diversity purposes.
These Google algorithm updates will affect core results only. This means that additional search features such as video snippets, top stories, image carousels, and other vertical search features will not be affected. So what does this mean for your Singapore website?
First, these updates will impact the webmasters who try to dominate specific queries. According to Danny Sullivan, the monopoly is seen in the reputation management industry among other industries. If you have different pages that rank for the same query, you ought to start tracking them and see how the updates have impacted the pages.
Best Practices to Optimise Your Website
To benefit from 2019 Google algorithm updates, these are the optimisations you need to make to your website.
Understand the Searchers’ Intent
The 2019 Google updates made it critical that webmasters should understand the searchers’ intent. This means that you must align your website with Google’s mission to provide better and valuable search results. Google will reward the Singapore websites that focus on creating valuable experiences and answers to the searchers’ queries.
To do this, you need to know the keywords that potential users will use to find your website. In the modern era, there are two types of searches available to searchers; text and voice. Optimising your website for both types of searches will increase your chances of attracting relevant traffic.
Voice search users typically use conversational keywords. For example, if they are looking for an insurance agency, they might say, “Which are the best insurance agencies in Singapore,” or “Find an insurance agency near me.” This makes it essential that you have an FAQ page on your site to address these types of questions.
Better yet, you ought to include answers in your service pages and have blog articles that provide answers to more complex questions about your industry. With that said, optimising for text or keyboard searches is more straightforward. This includes incorporating high-value keywords in your content as well as practicing local SEO in Singapore.
Understand the Role of AI
Understanding the role AI is playing in the modern search market, especially on Google, you need to research on how to use Google’s RankBrain to your advantage. RankBrain uses machine learning and AI to improve the relevance of Google search results.
Here is what you need to help RankBrain learn about your Singapore website much faster:
- Improve your click-through rates – When people frequently click on your site out of 10 other options, your SERP ranking is bound to improve. This will, in turn, improve your CTR. The easiest way to get more people clicking on your site is by improving on your description tag.
A good description tag ought to have 155 characters or less, a CTA, relevant keywords, and a description of the products or services you offer on the website
- Keyword research – Optimising for RankBrain means that you ought to focus on medium-length keywords with three to four keywords. The phrases ought to be long enough to increase conversion rates and short enough that searchers can type them in the search bar with ease and frequently
- Content quality – RankBrain places higher precedence on high-quality content that will provide the answers to a searcher’s exact query
- Link building – Google learns about popular sites by the number of users linking to a website. Google will think of the links as an indicator that previous users found the content useful and helpful.
However, the first step to attracting users who will link to your website is by having valuable content on the website. You should also consider hiring a digital marketing expert to help you with backlink building
Create valuable Long-form Web Content
Content creation is an invaluable aspect of SEO success. However, most webmasters create short articles, and this works against them. Long-form content, for example, a 2000-word article will allow you to get into more details and provide answers to searcher queries in a meaningful way.
Moreover, the long-form content will force visitors to spend more time on your website, which is an indicator to Google that they find the content useful. You will also have room to include more keywords in your content. This will increase the chances of your content appearing on more search results.
Long-form content will also portray you as a thought leader in your industry niche. Users will also feel the need to read other pieces of content on your site. This will move them closer to converting into customers, and the Google algorithm updates will work in your favour.
Google maintains that your social media activities do not influence your SERP rankings. However, they will affect your SEO efforts. This is possible in the following ways:
- Increased visibility and traffic to your site
- Increased brand recognition and authority
- Longer content lifespan
- Broader content distribution
With that said, social media marketing and management is a tough nut to crack for most brands. For starters, ensure that you create content that is worth sharing and linking to by users and other websites. However, most people understand it as self-promotion content. The truth is that this will hardly get traction on social media.
To win in the social media marketing game, you need to produce content that provides information to your readers and followers, instead of sales-related content. Better yet, stop trying to build links on social media. The links from social media tend to get buried into the newsfeed and will not be visible to the intended audience.
The bottom line is that you need to focus on building the right social media following that will interact with the content you share. This will affect your SEO in Singapore in a myriad of positive ways.
Conclusion
Seeing that many websites will be affected by the Google algorithm updates, ensure that you implement these tips into your overall digital marketing efforts. However, this is not to say that you will see immediate results. Typically, SEO efforts take between six months and a year to produce viable and optimal results. With that said, be sure to always be on the lookout for more Google algorithm updates.
Contact us for a custom seo service in Singapore. Our support team is on hand to provide you with a free and non-obligatory quote.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
