The Google SERP Changes In 2018 You Don’t Want To Miss: Part II

Times change – and Google does too. Last week, we summarized some of the most noteworthy changes that Google’s search engine results page (SERP) has seen over the past several years. Now, we’ll explain the steps you should take to overcome the content development challenges presented by these changes.

How to Incorporate RankBrain into Your Content Development Strategy

RankBrain, as we’ve explained, was created to help Google understand queries that haven’t yet been searched. To do so, RankBrain works to interpret the search based on information it collected in the past. Here’s what this means for your SEO content writing:

• Google’s Gary Illyes believes that businesses who want to rank shouldn’t bother spending time optimizing for RankBrain, because there’s no clear way to do it.
• Your content should all be written naturally, keywords included, because RankBrain can typically identify when keywords are meant to mean the same thing.
• In summary, striving for quality content that follows known SEO best practices is the ideal strategy for appealing to RankBrain.

How to Master SEO Content Writing for Featured Snippets

Featured snippets are by far one of the most visually jarring SERP changes Google has administered. Unfortunately, while featured snippets are useful, they also ramp up competition significantly, as the presence of a featured snippet usually pushes several viable results down the page. Boost your chance at securing a featured snippet with these tips.

• Conduct in-depth research to identify which question-style keywords you might be able to rank for.
• Create content that addresses these questions directly – include the question as a heading, in the title and in alt tags, if possible.
• Work relevant information, including answers to related questions, into the same piece of content.
• Use organizational strategies – like bullets and numbered lists – to make your potential snippet as clear and useful as possible.
• Ensure your content features successful SEO overall, because it needs a high SERP ranking in order to snag the snippet spot.

Creating a Content Development Strategy for Related Questions

If you’ve seen a featured snippet, then there’s a good chance you’ve also seen related questions on an SERP. The “People also ask” box contains questions that are similar to your query, and users can simply click on one of these questions to reveal the answer without leaving the page. This pushes link results even further down, so it’s essential to craft content that effectively answers questions if you want to top the SERP. Here are a few tips.

• Follow the tactics listed in the above featured snippets section – the optimization process is largely the same.
• When answering a question, try to do it in as little space as possible. The answers displayed in the “People also ask” box are seldom longer than a few sentences.

Writing a Meta Description That Lends Itself to SEO Content Writing

At the end of 2017, SEO practitioners noted a major change: Google was no longer adhering to its long-established 160-ish meta description character count limit. Instead, most searches revealed meta descriptions that were significantly longer. The general consensus is that the new limit is somewhere around 300 or more. Here’s how you should take this change.

• Don’t abandon your old meta description practices. Keep providing precise content summaries that cover the primary points of the articles.
• Always keep it unique.
• Use the post’s main keywords.
• Ultimately, nothing’s really changed, except for the length itself. So do what you’ve been doing, and don’t feel obligated to fill more space with unnecessary content.

Handling the Increased Presence of Advertisements on Google’s SERP

When you conduct a search for a product or service, you’ll almost certainly be greeted either with sponsored posts in various formats or a portion of a map displaying nearby businesses that offer what you searched for. So what’s the best way to cope with this diminished likelihood of ranking organically?

• You’ll almost invariably have to use both organic and paid tactics if you’re really intent on snagging a top spot.
• Ensuring your business is on Google Maps with in-depth information, such as your website, address and hours of operation, can help you at least land on the map.
• Ask your customers or clients to leave positive reviews on Google Maps. It’s logical to assume that better averages, which show up next to your listing below the map, can help boost traffic.

Writing SEO Content with the Possum Update in Mind

Implemented in late 2016, Possum revolutionized local SEO, making it easier for high-quality businesses from just outside a certain city or town to rank for searches in that location and bringing about a host of additional changes. Wondering how to adjust your blog strategy for localized searches? We’ll help you out.

• Create highly targeted content. Located near Madison, WI? Whip up a blog post or three with content geared for that area. The same goes for any nearby location that could conceivably provide you with customers.
• Use lots of different keywords with minor variations. Several sources suggest that even mildly manipulating a query can affect results, despite our earlier RankBrain explanation.
• Bear in mind that the results you’ll see when searching from a certain location are not the same results a user elsewhere will receive for the same query.

Enlist Expert Writers

These guidelines are a lot to digest, and fresh updates are rolled out on a regular basis, so it’s important to spend time keeping up to date with Google’s SERP. No spare time for SEO research? Let Virtucom Group tackle your content work. Learn more about our SEO-friendly content writing services today.