Interested in staying up-to-date with the latest SEO news? In the August round-up, I’ll discuss the latest happenings that have occurred in the world of SEO over the last month.
What's in the news this month?
1. Google Search Console launch recommendations
2. Google AI Overviews are now appearing in the UK
3. Google Merchant Center Next is being expanded to all merchants
1. Google Search Console launch 'recommendations' feature
A new experimental feature called ‘Search Console recommendations’ has been announced by Google which will provide valuable optimisation recommendations and insights to help webmasters improve their presence on Google Search.
This was announced August 5th 2024 and not all sites will have access right away, so you may have to wait a little while to see this potentially valuable feature.
“Recommendations are based on a variety of Google Search systems data, like indexing, crawling and serving. The data was already available to you on Search Console, but now we're helping to make it more accessible by providing direct recommendations."
These recommendations can be found in the Search Console overview page and will only appear when there is a recommendation available for your website.
2. Google AI Overviews are now appearing in the UK
What are Google AI Overviews?
Google AI Overviews use artificial intelligence to provide users with a concise summary of a topic directly in the search results. Instead of clicking through multiple websites to find the information, users can potentially get a comprehensive overview right on the search page.
The launch of Google AI Overviews in May 2024 faced intense backlash from website owners, SEOs and casual users alike and went viral on social media. The summaries were inaccurate, unhelpful and could even be considered dangerous.
Google has since carried out work to remove responses that don't comply with their policies.
Towards the end of July, AI Overviews were being spotted on SERPs in the UK. Initially it seems the testing was rolled-out only to users signed in with a business address. However, this feature has since shown for users who have been logged out.
What does this mean for businesses?
The appearance of Google AI Overviews on SERPs in the UK may have an impact on organic traffic from informational queries. These overviews, which provide quick answers directly on the SERPs, can potentially reduce the number of clicks to websites. Users seeking quick information might find their answers within the AI summary, diminishing the need to visit the actual web pages.
Currently, Google AI Overviews are still undergoing extensive testing. For example, there are some results which include links to external websites, while for others, no external links are provided. Our hope is that Google continues to promote traffic to external websites via a link to the content source and fortunately, the initial signs are positive.
It is important to consider that as AI Overviews have been appearing since the third week of July in the UK, clicks to your website may already be impacted. When reporting on data we recommend looking at traffic from queries where an AI Overview appears to see if the inclusion of one has had any impact on traffic to your website.
3. Google Merchant Center Next is being expanded to All Merchants
What is Google Merchant Center?
Google Merchant Center is a platform where online retailers can upload and manage product information. This data is then used to populate various Google services, including Google Shopping, Google Images, and Google Maps.
While historically Google Merchant Center was primarily used for paid advertising, Merchant Center can also positively impact SEO performance by allowing products to appear in free Google Shopping listings and organic product grids that appear on SERPs.
What is Google Merchant Center Next?
Merchant Center Next is an updated, “fresher” user interface for Merchant Center which simplifies the platform for businesses to manage how their products show up on Google.
Merchant Center Next is easier to use, lets you control how your products appear across Google, and gives you valuable insights about your business, products, and market. Google wrote.
The updated UI of ‘Google Merchant Center Next’ has already began to replace the classic version and very soon this will be rolled out to all merchant accounts.
What does this mean for businesses?
The essence of this tool remains the same for businesses with this revamped version. However, there are some changes which will take some getting used to such as the slimmed-down diagnostics feature. It may also take some time to adjust to the new user interface for existing users.
Despite these changes, the platform remains free to use and remains a powerful tool for both paid advertising and organic campaigns.
4. New Google Core Update is rapidly approaching
Despite July being a quiet month for confirmed algorithm roll-outs, there has been quite a bit of chatter around the prospect of a core update rolling out imminently. This is somewhat expected as Google states “Broad core updates tend to happen every few months.” and the last one finished rolling-out in April 2024.
What is a core update?
A core update is a significant, broad change to Google's search algorithm. It affects a large number of web pages on Google’s index and is designed to improve the overall quality and relevance of search results.
According to Google “Core updates are designed to ensure that overall, we're delivering on our mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers.”.
A core update is likely to have an effect on a website's rankings.
What does this mean for businesses?
Before a core update we often see the SERPs changing at a greater rate.
Google tends to increase testing and refinements to SERPs in the lead-up to core updates, likely as part of their final testing phase. These tests can cause fluctuations in traffic from keywords as SERP features appear and disappear. This for example is the case with the new AI Overviews showing for many results in the UK, which could impact the amount of clicks from SERPs where an AI overview appears.
During a core roll-out, expect more fluctuations.
Ranking fluctuations are common during a core update rollout as Google refine many different systems. Fluctuations during this period are extremely volatile as Google often rolls out core updates gradually to minimise disruption, help them to identify any issues quicker and allows them to refine based on real-world data and feedback.
Once fully implemented, significant ranking changes can be seen.
In the days and weeks after an update has been fully implemented, you may start to see that overall Google rankings have changed and this may impact the amount of organic traffic coming to the website.
Websites who follow guidelines and work to continuously improve the content and follow best practices are more likely to see improvements from core algorithm changes and the websites who don’t keep up with the changing requirements may see themselves in an unfortunate position where competitors have improved and moved above them.
Monitor Algorithm Updates
Google provides a log of all current and historic confirmed updates on the Google Search Status Dashboard.
SERP Volatility Sensor
SERP volatility is high with ranking fluctuations happening frequently on all devices and in most countries.
