As a team of dedicated SEO experts, we know how quickly the SEO world develops here at Boyd Digital.
New developments in SEO affect the way content is produced, needs monitored and how rankings are achieved on Google, therefore, it’s important to stay on top of SEO news, so your site doesn’t fall behind on important ranking factors.
In the last couple of months, we have seen some updates from Google and social media platforms that might affect how you use SEO tactics to optimise your online presence. This article will explore some of the biggest breaking SEO industry news so you can optimise your tactics to gain more traffic and better rankings online.
Google December 2022 Link Spam Update Roll Out
Google has announced that from December 14th, it will be rolling out a link spam update. This update marks an upgrade to its spam detection system with the ability to find purchased links and detect sites which are essentially being used only for the purpose of creating outgoing links to other websites.
The update utilises Google’s AI-based system, SpamBrain, to nullify unnatural links. This AI-based system detects spam directly, and Google says it can now identify sites that have been purchasing links and sites used only for building outgoing links.
Google has a variety of strict guidelines against using purchased links to boost search rankings. To avoid being penalised in the rankings, you must ensure that your site follows Google’s best practice guidelines regarding outgoing and incoming links.
For advice with backlinking, paid advertising guidelines and more, contact Boyd Digital for advice on ensuring linking benefits your site.
Google’s December E-E-A-T Update
If you have experience in SEO, you’ve probably already encountered E-A-T (standing for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness).
A recent Google guidelines update has added another ‘E’ into the equation, standing for ‘experience’. To rank higher on Google or to maintain a good ranking, it is no more important than ever that your content contains first-hand experience.
Google’s updated search quality rater guidelines explain E-E-A-T with this statement:
“Consider the extent to which the content creator has the necessary first-hand or life experience for the topic. Many types of pages are trustworthy and achieve their purpose well when created by people with a wealth of personal experience. For example, which would you trust: a product review from someone who has personally used the product or a “review” by someone who has not?”.
Overall, this is another step in Google’s attempts to prioritise reliable content that is of more use to its users. Google’s search quality rater guideline has been updated with new insight into how the company instructs quality raters to define a content creator’s expertise.
To avoid being penalised in Google’s rankings by this update, it’s important to ensure that all content you’re writing for your website, particularly when reviewing products, demonstrates first-hand, reliable experience that will be of significant value to customers.
Contact Boyd Digital today for advice on optimising your site with strong copy. Our expert SEO copywriters can help you improve every aspect of your copy to help you rank higher whilst remaining within Google’s ‘Helpful Content’ guidelines.
Myth Busted: WordPress Is Not Inherently Better For SEO Than Other CMSs
It has long been rumoured in SEO circles that WordPress might be better for SEO as Googlebot can crawl WordPress sites more efficiently due to their familiarity with the structure.
However, in response to a November Reddit thread on the topic, Google Search Advocate John Mueller confirmed that creating a site with WordPress isn’t inherently better than coding a website from scratch when it comes to SEO. On the topic of why WordPress websites tend to show more quickly in rankings due to SEO, he writes:
“Not for SEO, but you can focus more on the content if you don’t spend all your time creating a new CMS for yourself.”
He confirms that WordPress is not inherently better for SEO on any technical level or Google compatibility scale. However, due to how simple WordPress makes it to set up a website, people can start creating on-site content faster, and this is what Google crawlers analyse to help the site increase its ranking.
You will be at no technical SEO disadvantage if you decide to create your platform; it will just take a little longer to set up the site and prepare it with high-quality content that meets Google’s guidelines.
For help setting up, designing and creating content for a new website, contact Boyd Digital today. Our expert team can help you create a site that works for your business’s needs and goals, prioritises the user experience and is carefully optimised for SEO success within Google’s guidelines.
Whether you use WordPress or need a new site for your business, we can help you create one that is effective, powerful and helps increase traffic from your target demographics.
Improve Your SEO Today
With regular updates to how SEO works, it can take time to keep up with content demands while maintaining other aspects of your business.
If you need help keeping your SEO-optimised content within Google guidelines, getting help from a dedicated agency like Boyd Digital can help to improve your content and site performance, increasing your chances of ranking well on Google.
Boyd Digital has been working with clients since 2011. Since then, we have encountered numerous changes to SEO good practices – which is why we place a huge amount of value in keeping up with current SEO news and trends in helping our clients improve and maintain a positive ranking.
Book a free consultation with Boyd Digital today to learn more about how we can help your business. No matter the size of your business or the type of content you need – we can help you optimise your site for SEO success.