From Algorithm Shifts to GA4: The SEO Game Plan

Google's never-ending algorithm updates, GA4 getting closer to becoming an everyday reality, and users changing search patterns. Yes, there's a lot to learn for 2023.

But how can you avoid getting lost in this mass of new information and find the best way to improve your SEO?

Google algorithm updates

As the SEO landscape changes, SEO consultants must adapt quickly.

Google implemented many important updates, such as core algorithm updates and also more specific ones like BERT , which increased the importance of natural language processing and semantic search .

The rise of voice search, mobile search, and other technologies meant that SEO professionals had to adjust their strategies, as these changes can significantly impact SEO performance.

On top of that, SEO services had to keep up with new content types and formats, such as structured data and other interactive elements. Let’s take a look at the list of Google ranking updates for 2022!

Page Experience Update

Rolling out throughout the first quarter of 2024, this is a major Google algorithm update that focuses on the overall user experience of web pages.

It seeks to measure the quality of a website as experienced by users on the front-end. The update will take into account:

• the Core Web Vitals ;
• mobile device compatibility;
• safe navigation;
• the use of HTTPS;
• intrusive interstitial patterns.

All of this is aimed at providing a better experience for users.

Still, mobile-first indexing—which started its actions in 2016—became even more qualified to prioritize websites that provide a good experience on mobile devices, once many websites already abandoned desktop-first indexing. Therefore, Google will continue to consider this as part of its immediate actions after mobile indexing as a priority.

The most important note is to focus on mobile user experience and use responsive website design to ensure that both mobile and desktop versions of websites are easily crawled, indexed, and served to users. Therefore, users can expect a better mobile experience.

To measure it, you need to use the Experience graphs in Google Search Console as you can see in the screenshot below:

Product Reviews Update

During the year, there were 3 updates related to product reviews in March, July and September.

The main point is to prioritize the visibility of product reviews over regular organic search results, making them more prominent in the SERPs. As best practices for having good reviews, you should consider the following:

includes first-hand experience, meaning the point of view of end consumers;

Include a detailed product description that shows your business knows what it sells;

show the consumer why there are advantages to buying the product in your e-commerce;

Provide images, videos, or internal links to real experiences that can help the consumer make a good purchasing decision.

Additionally, you can check out Google's tips for writing high-quality product reviews from Google Search Central.

Core Algorithm Update

Regarding the core algorithm, there were two updates this year: May and September. One less when compared to 2021.

The core algorithm typically changes multiple times in a single year and generally affects different aspects to improve how Google provides useful and reliable results in the SERPs.

Core updates are easily noticed by marketing and SEO consultants. Unlike other updates, it does not analyze spam policies or manual actions.

The main idea is to improve the performance of the algorithm to provide better results for specific queries.

“ One way to think about how a core update works is to imagine that you made a list of the top 100 movies in 2021. A few years later, in 2024, you update the list. It will naturally change. Some wonderful new movies that were made afterward will now be candidates for inclusion. You might also reevaluate some movies and realize they deserved a higher or lower spot on the list.” - Google Search Central. Google Search Core Updates | Google Search Central. October 12, 2022

Helpful Content Update

With a focus on people-centric content, Google Helpful Content Update rewards sites with original, useful content that answers users’ queries . This update aims for clear, accurate information that’s easy to find and understand.

My point here is that what will be expected from creators is even more creative content, providing comprehensive information on a specific topic in a way that makes users feel satisfied; meaning they don't need to do further searches to supplement the information they are looking for. Make sure your content is comprehensive!

Another point is that since Google is expected to remove useless content from the SERPs, it is time to do some cleaning! Follow the tips below:

• makes an inventory of all existing content;
• update strategies and eliminate those that no longer make sense;
• write for people, not to position yourself ;
• Don't write about trends that aren't related to your business or that don't make sense to your audience.

Spam Update

The spam update, like all the updates I already mentioned, improves every year and now uses SpamBrain, an AI tool, to mitigate many different types of spam. Here are some examples to make sure you are following Google's spam policies by avoiding:

1. cloaking: showing different content to users;
2. doorways: different pages created just to manipulate search results without useful content;
3. pirated content through code, page and content injection;
4. hidden texts and links;
5. keyword stuffing;
6. spam links;
7. content generated by robots without human review, etc.

In addition to those already mentioned, it is good to take into account other secondary (but very significant) ones, such as the next topic we will address. Keep reading!

EEAT

One of Google's quality rating guidelines, formerly known as EAT, is now EEAT. This concept is also evolving to help Google provide us with relevant and useful information.

Based on this, what is expected is content that makes users perceive “ specialization, authority and reliability ” and, with this latest update, an additional “E” is added in reference to “ experience ”.

Structure data

In relation to product reviews, there is a new structured data snippet . Google understood that reviews are valuable for the users’ decision journey, especially when it comes to the pros and cons list.

This way, it is now possible for them to stand out in the SERPs. If you don't have structured data for this, Google can use the pros and cons of the website automatically.

Google Tools

Google Search Console

Google Search Console has gained new features and some of its reports have a new look.

In January, it launched a URL Inspection API that can help developers debug and optimize issues with indexed pages, on an individual basis.

For example, you can request data for an indexed URL and the API returns available index information such as index status, AMP, rich results, mobile usability, user-declared canonical, and Google-selected canonical.

Some more improvements to Google Search Console include:

connect to Data Studio and configure custom dashboards including bubble charts that can help perform query analysis;

updated page ranking reports;

new video index report;

new HTTP report;

New merchant listings report;

new section for shopping tab listings.

Google Analytics 4

As of July 1, 2023, the Google Analytics Universal Standard will no longer process data. It will still be possible (for a while) to view your reports. But measuring new data will only be possible in Google Analytics 4 .

For websites using the 360 ​​Universal Analytics version, properties will have a slightly longer cut-off date: July 1, 2024.

Google says that next generation (GA4) “ is a new property designed for the future of measurement .” Here are some of the possibilities it promises:

collect website and app data to better understand the customer journey;

use event-based data instead of session-based data;

include privacy controls such as cookie-less measurement and behavioral and conversion modeling;

Predictive capabilities provide guidance without complex models

Direct integrations to media platforms help drive action on your website or app

So, are you ready to change your SEO in 2025?

Wow! What a year!

As we can see, all algorithm updates focused on improving the relevance and accuracy of search results, as well as rewarding sites that provide useful, high-quality content.

In 2023, the best SEO company will quickly adapt to updates and ensure their content and websites provide original and useful information.

On the other hand, Google tools have new features to improve the way we can measure different data and this can be great when we need to identify opportunities or solve problems quickly, right?

Yes! It can be difficult to keep up with so many things all the time, but there are many actions you can take to ensure your team is always ready to improve your strategy.

Here are some tips that can help you make sure you are on the right track to meet your users' expectations:

Don't write to gain positions: write for people ;

Be careful when using AI-generated content. You can still use it as an aid, but remember that human review is essential;

Don't write about trends if they don't correlate with your business or if it doesn't make sense to your audience;

make sure you implement a well-crafted meta tag strategy that connects them to the content you are actually presenting;

provide comprehensive information to satisfy your audience;

Consider building high-quality links, including internal and external links that are trustworthy and that actually make sense to your audience — always your audience, keep that in mind —;

• stay alert to changes related to user behavior (e.g. voice search);
• provides inclusive and natural language ;
• provides fast page loading speed;
• provides safe browsing and a secure experience;
• Consider frequent SEO audits to take advantage of opportunities for improvement;

• Additionally, consider frequent content audits to ensure you stay true to your strategy.

Finally, you don't need to memorize what each of these updates do individually. What you need is to understand that, at the end of the day, they are all connected and together they work to satisfy the user.