SEO News You Can Use: What Google’s ‘January 2020 Core Update’ Means For Your Website

We just turned the calendar to 2020 and you’re already having to duck and cover. Perhaps you don’t even want to uncover your eyes at this point.

Yes, just two weeks into the new year, Google announced last Monday that it was rolling out a “January 2020 Core Update” that was mostly complete by Thursday morning.

Happy New Year! Well, maybe for some of you.

Early impact of the January Google algorithm update was all over the map throughout the SEO community. Some reported positive results while others appeared to be hit hard in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Have you seen any impact yet? Leave us a comment below to tell us how you’ve been impacted.

This latest Google search algorithm update is global. You could see fluctuations over the next two weeks. It’s common to see widely noticeable effects because of core algorithm updates. You’ll need to pay close attention to any significant drops or gains in the search rankings over the next two weeks to get a feel for how your website was affected.

One thing to keep in mind: If you drop in the rankings, analyze what content is now ranking ahead of you and in an effort to determine how you might want to react with your own content.

More SEO News You Can Use

Google Rolling Out Updated Look For Paid and Organic Search Results on Desktop: Google just announced another update, that it’s rolling out a new look on desktop for paid and organic search results. The new look, however, isn’t really new because it’s the same look Google put in place a year ago for mobile search results. The new desktop look, Google says, will present site domain names and brand icons prominently, along with a bolded “Ad” label for ads.

Google’s John Mueller Has Advice on Optimizing for BERT: Google webmaster John Mueller last week offered some advice for optimizing for the Google BERT algorithm update. The two key takeaways included to be sure your content is written naturally and be sure you don’t stuff keywords within the content.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Re-Optimizing Your Content: One of the fastest ways to gain traction with your content in the search rankings is to re-optimize it. Moz.com recently released a step-by-step guide for re-optimizing your content that is sure to put you on the right track.

Google Has a New Shopping Section in Search Results: Following a busy week for Google, it also rolled out a new addition to search results to make it easier to shop for popular products. When searching for keywords relating to clothes, shoes and accessories, Google now returns a new section that showcases popular products from online stores.

A Case Study Shows True Value of Informational Content for eCommerce SEO: A recent case study presented data that suggests informational content pages do help rank better for search queries with commercial intent. It’s often been difficult to prove the true value of informational content for eCommerce SEO.