Google has confirmed it will be updating the Google algorithm in December 2020. A fair amount of time has passed since the last core algorithm update for Google, which took place on May 4th.

How will this change in the Google algorithm affect your website’s search rankings, and how can you design your online marketing strategy with the new updates in mind? Keep reading. We’ve got the answers to these questions and more.

Google Algorithm Updates

Each time Google updates its algorithm, it seems to be met with dread and panic. Brushing up on some of the basics of Google’s algorithm updates may help to squash the anxiety you may currently be feeling.

Earlier this year, Google released its May 2020 Core Update. This update was designed to give more weight to websites that exhibit Google’s E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) principles.

According to Google, this update implemented “significant changes to search algorithms and systems.” Google also published some guidelines to help businesses understand what it was looking for when ranking sites.

Businesses needed to adapt to Google’s new focus areas to stay on top of the search rankings.

If your business has been hard at work implementing a new marketing strategy for Google, your company’s SEO, search engine optimization will probably be rewarded. The December 2020 Google algorithm design seems to be keeping in line with the E-A-T format.

Let’s take a look at how you can give your website’s SEO and your content a boost with the changes to the Google algorithm.

Quality Content Is King

You’ve probably heard the saying content is king, but with the new Google algorithm, quality content reigns supreme. Developing high-quality content that is user friendly is critical for your online marketing strategy.

If you’re searching how to design a Google marketing strategy, look no further than a well thought out, quality content marketing strategy. Quality content will boost your site’s expertise, authority, and trust.

All of these things will help your website rank higher on Google search results page.

Your business should focus on building assets that showcase your expertise, educate your audience, are relevant and useful, and answer your potential customer’s questions.

Luckily, Google has provided us with a list of questions that can help determine the quality of your content. Here are a few of those questions.

• Does your content provide original information, research, or analysis?
• Does your content offer a comprehensive analysis of the topic?
• Is your content insightful?
• Does your headline properly summarize your content?
• Is this the sort of page you want to bookmark or forward to a friend?

It is a good idea to go through your site’s content and make sure that it is all killer and no filler. Get rid of any pages with low word counts or that do nothing to bring value to your users.

Active Social Presence Helps Your Site’s SEO

It has been long suspected that your company’s social media platforms play a role in how Google ranks your website. With Google’s new E-A-T format, social media can play an important role in amplifying your business’s content. Quality content will receive more clicks, likes, and shares and help your website build “natural” backlinks to your website, which helps your SEO.

Your social media platforms can also go along way to demonstrate your company’s trustworthiness. Focus on maximizing your social media platforms’ presence by asking your customers to like and follow  your social pages and develop a regular posting schedule to keep your company visible

You Should Care About Your Online Reputation

Joan Jett doesn’t give a damn about her bad reputation, but if your current digital marketing company has the same attitude towards your company’s online reputation, you should fire them!

If there is one thing that Google’s algorithm really takes into account when deciding where it will place your company’s website in the search ranking, it is your trustworthiness, and therefore your online reputation is crucial.

Your digital marketing strategy should focus like a laser on increasing and improving your online reviews. Keep an eye on your company’s ratings on Google, Facebook, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and more. You should aim to have 5 to 10 reviews on each platform with an average score of 4.5 or higher.

It is also just as critical for your company to respond to reviews as they are posted. Even bad reviews need a response. Post a response to a bad view and ask them to contact you or tell them you will contact them to follow up. Apologize and invite them back to your business so you can make it right.

People take note of how a company responds to bad reviews online just as much as they pay attention to how many 5 star reviews you have. You cannot simply ignore bad reviews anymore.

Citations Are a Must for Local Businesses

Lastly, the new Google algorithm looks at your company’s citations to verify its legitimacy, existence, and trustworthiness. Citations are places where your business’s name, address, and phone number are listed. This is called the NAP in local SEO.

Your NAP must be updated and correct across multiple sites. This is a signal to Google that your business does exist, and it helps Google rank your listing in local SEO such as Google Maps.

There are many important business directories such as Facebook, Apple Maps, YellowPages, and Yelp. Ensure your citations are up to date and the same across these platforms to improve your local search rankings.

Implement These Tips to Hold Onto Your Search Rankings

Just mention the words Google algorithm update, and you can start a panic at many SEO marketing companies. While an update to the Google algorithm may sound scary at first, if you have a good digital marketing strategy in place, the new update will only help your company, not hurt it.

If you are looking to grow your business with digital marketing, give us a call. Drive Social Media can help you change the way you market your business and help you capitalize on the latest Google algorithm update.

Contact us today to book a meeting. Let’s talk about your digital marketing strategy for 2021.