SEO Insights – November 2021 Report
Well, December has arrived and 2022 is fast approaching!
For this months SEO we consider the impact of MUM and look at some recent future search scenarios. We also cover the November core update and the recently announced page experience ranking factor for desktop users.
What MUM means for your content Strategy
Earlier this year Google announced the MUM at Google’s SearchOn event.
MUM is based on Google’s AI technology and will improve the search results for complex questions. MUM’s advanced understanding of complex and investigational searches means that search results could feature detailed videos, advice and even feedback from others who have been through the same thing.
A recent blog post from Google has given us more examples of how the search landscape will look in the future and also given hints that things will massively change for businesses and the time to adapt is now!
We know that the MUM (multitask unified model) can understand information from different formats such as text, images and video, but how it uses that information will be a key factor in the changes that we will see in the future.
To quote Google
In addition, it (MUM) can unlock information in new ways by inferring connections between concepts, topics, and ideas.
With more complex search queries, search results will be able to reduce the number of searches and touchpoints that users need to get the answer they were looking for.
An example, of this was an initial search for “best mouth wash”. The users journey evolved into 106 touchpoints before a purchase was made for a new electric brush.
MUM will reduce the number of touchpoints needed in complex or investigative search queries.
So What Does This Mean For You?
Your content must be adapted and evolved. There is no excuse for poor imagery, lack of videos, zero product information, minimal after-sales content or lack of guidance, advice or news.
All businesses must make sure they continue to evolve their content and make sure all business-relevant scenarios are covered in all formats.
- Videos showcasing your services
- Product information downloads
- Technical troubleshooting guides
- Quality images for your product or service
Relevant content is king. You must have a strong content strategy and meet all of your customer’s requirements via high-quality searchable formats.
Page Experience for Desktop – Timeline Announced
This month Google confirmed that it will start using page experience as part of desktop ranking systems in February. This rollout is anticipated to be completed in March 2022
Page experience metrics have been included as part of the rankings since August for mobile search. Rolling this out for desktop is a natural step and we will be tracking this update with interest.
The metrics that are measured and contribute to a good page experience, are the speed of the page, how well users can interact with it and how stable it is visually. The same Core Web Vitals metrics that are used in the mobile rankings.
Its core update time!
Google released another core update in mid-November. At Artemis, we know that a grounded and measured approach is needed during core updates. Big changes at such a critical time of year can often be unnerving for a lot of businesses.
We have yet to see any massive impacts but with rumours of another core update in December we are monitoring the impact of these updates very carefully.
It will be interesting to see what impact these updates have and indeed, we look forward to 2022 and the continued updates to the search landscape!
