2022 SEO Updates To Watch Out For Better Rankings

2022 SEO Updates To Watch Out For Better Ranking. May 2022 Core Algorithm Update Rollout Is Complete (June 9, 2022)

A few weeks have passed into the rollout of the June 2022 core update; Google also confirmed on 9th June that the rollout is complete. 

It’s important to account that there were big fluctuations across these two weeks, and we have observed that websites gain rankings, then lose them in a matter of few days, and then finally regain them back.

It certainly looks like Google had some important changes done to the core algorithm at the time of this update. So, hopefully, there won’t be another one in the next few months. Fingers crossed.

May 2022 Core Algorithm Update

Google has confirmed the rollout of May 2022 Core Algorithm Update, which actually implies the season of volatile SERPs fluctuation is back again. There has been a lot of talk around a forthcoming Google Core Update because it’s been over six months since Google rolled out one. The last time Google made a core update was in November 2021.

Though two product review updates have been done earlier which followed this in December and March, the impact was not huge to review sites.

We don’t prefer hate-mongering, and we consider core updates more of an opportunity than a problem. That’s because core updates help Google to try to make the search landscape a level-playing field by removing the rankings present on the sites that have done great during a specific period of time.

While a few sites avail the benefit, a few others consider their rankings being taken over. This highlights the need to update the content to create parity between the new user intent and the updates in the industry they are present.

March 2022 Product Reviews Update, SEO Updates To Watch Out For Better Rankings 

Google has confirmed the March 2022 Product Reviews Update. It is the third in a series of updates that began in 2021 which plans to reward websites that published in-depth reviews depending on first-hand experience.

According to Google, those templated reviews which just don’t touch upon the area of products and services aren’t something that lures the users. However, multiple reviews of this kind have achieved top positions in Google search.

Even though Google doesn’t want to penalize such reviews that talk about quality and thin content issues, Google says it certainly wants sites that upload quality reviews to get an advantage as that’s the type of content that users seek when they search online.

Since 2021, Google has been rolling out Product Review Update; the first one makes its appearance in April 2021, then in December of the same year happens again. The newest one is the third in this batch, and it offers a few additional criteria required for ranking.

Google has confirmed that the last two Product Review Updates’ focus is on giving a ranking boost to detailed research-based reviews published by people who portray expertise in the field. However, the March 2022 Product Review Update includes a few more criteria that can be considered an authentic review, which is included in:

• The portrayal of the benefits or problems of the product and how it differs when compared to its previous version.
• First-hand information is received from the people who have physically or digitally used the product, along with taking appropriate evidence that shows what it looks like and the process to use it. 
• The perspective of the person who reviews the product beyond what’s already given by the manufacturer via visuals, audio, and links.
• Provide users a list of similar types of products and explain what makes the product that has been different from the rest.

Google says the update will impact only the English language queries, but they plan to make it big by adding more languages in the future. 

This initiative again is Google’s part of the overall vision to help users avail trustworthy and reliable information.

Discussing the rollout, it takes a week or a couple of weeks before it gets completed, and during this phase, websites (predominantly affiliate and review-based sites) may view volatility in the rankings.

Are you hit by Google’s product review update? Here is a checklist that will help you to trace what went wrong.

• You should check whether experts who have a digital footprint in the field have reviewed the products.
• Are you offering extra value to the review by adding the advantages & disadvantages that help users to make an informed buying decision?
• Did you perform a quantitative analysis where you added the product under different performance tests in order to measure how it performs?
• Did you make a comparison with the ones that are already available in the market and have you explained what makes your reviewed product unique?
• Have you discussed the product improvements that you made when you compared it to the last version?
• Were you able to pinpoint the highlighted factors that make or break the deal?
• Did you use images, graphs, videos, or any other evidence to help your claims?
• Are you trying to promote one seller overly? If so, then you should give users more buying options.

Page Experience Update for Desktop in 2022, SEO Updates To Watch Out For Better Rankings 

Google has started rolling out the update of the page experience for desktop web pages and desktop search.

This update has been rolled out and completed in March-end 2022.

Update of Page Experience – Rollout of Desktop is Complete (March 3, 2022)

Google has confirmed that the page experience update completed rolling out to desktop search results.

The update for desktop started rolling out on 22nd February and ended on 3rd March, making the entire thing a 9-day rollout.

To compare with, the page experience update for mobile has taken about two and a half months.

Google has confirmed the conclusion of page experience update for desktop, so now you can start measuring its impact on your rankings.