{"id":12280,"date":"2022-01-24T16:35:14","date_gmt":"2022-01-24T22:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topspot.com\/blog\/?p=12280"},"modified":"2022-05-06T14:02:42","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T20:02:42","slug":"2021-google-updates-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topspotims.com\/blog\/2022\/01\/2021-google-updates-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 Google Updates in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2021 brought several changes to the way Google determines how a page ranks. Some changes had a ripple effect, starting off small and spreading far and wide. Others were more dramatic and will continue to have an impact throughout 2022 and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passage Ranking Update (February)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before: Imagine you are looking for something highly specific. You enter your query into Google and the results appear. But it\u2019s unclear how or why that page might be relevant to your interests. You aren\u2019t sure what results to click on to get the information you need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now: When you enter a search query in Google, the passage on the page that contains that query is more likely to show up in the search results and even in the featured snippets on the page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

About This Result (July)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As we discussed in this blog from July 2021<\/a>, Google is now providing insight into how and why they choose to rank a page the way they do. You can now click on the three dots next to a page listed in the search results and a box will pop up, explaining more about why this page showed up for your query. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mobile-First Indexing Update (March)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mobile-first indexing was first announced in 2016. Over the years, it\u2019s gone through several variations, but in 2021, it was announced that mobile-first indexing would be applied to ALL website pages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Timeline<\/a>
Source<\/sup><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Product Reviews (April and December)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For websites that depend on reviews, this update could have a big impact. Google is now putting a higher priority on well-thought-out reviews that provide the user with original information and more details than what is found on the manufacturer site. This includes those that have images associated with them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, this customer recently added product review schema markup to their site. In the past month, we have seen an increase in clicks, impressions, and click-thru rates. This is especially impressive given that this took place during the holiday months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Google<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

MUM Update (February)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Described as being even more powerful than the BERT update<\/a> in 2019, this update is about how Google understands the user\u2019s query in relation to other terms they might be using. We discuss this in detail in our blog on Understanding Semantic Search with the B-SMART Method<\/a> from earlier this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Page Experience (June through September)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The biggest update of the year, this refers to the Core Web Vitals<\/a> we have been discussing in the last half of 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Google<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Core Web Vitals are the new set of signals Google will be using to help determine rankings. The signals are all a part of making the search experience better for users. We discussed these new metrics in detail in a four-part series:<\/p>\n\n\n\n