When trying to bring a site to the TOP 10 Google, webmasters often ask the same questions, are the links still relevant, and how does the search engine evaluate them? What is the E-A-T content, and how the new search functionality will affect website promotion? The answers to these and other questions are given in our article.
Do I need links at all?
Links are important for Google: the latest StoneTemple study based on 27 thousand search queries showed a high correlation between the positions of sites in Google TOP and the number of links to them. Moreover, for information sites, this correlation is higher than for commercial ones.
How Google rates links
When Google came up with PageRank, all links were considered the same by default – one link = one vote, nothing complicated. But today, things are completely different.
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Here the 5 principles of link assessment used by Google which will make your dating site work. Some of these principles have been directly endorsed by Google, while others are used in company patents. These are not strict rules, but principles that are interconnected.
- Links from popular pages give a more valuable voice. This is the basic principle that still lays in the original PageRank patent – the more links to a page, the more weight it accumulates and transfers.
- The link inside the unique main content conveys more weight than the links in the sidebars, footer, etc. In a guide for assessors, Google emphasizes that more attention needs to be paid to the main part of the page.
- As a result of various experiments, it turned out that links in the disclosed tables and accordions can transfer less weight than visible links. Although Google claims to evaluate such links the same.
- The higher the link is placed on the page and in the content, the more weight it transfers. Google Reasonable Surfer technology aims to give more weight to the link that users are more likely to click on, including links in more prominent parts of the page.
- Links with relevant anchor text can carry more weight. Also described in the Reasonable Surfer model and confirmed by numerous SEO experiments. At the same time, if Google can appreciate the relevant anchor, irrelevant or off-topic, it can ignore and even reduce the weight of such a link. For example, you put a link to the site with single girls online on a recipe page.
E-A-T: How to create content that Google likes
The term “E-A-T” (expertise, authority, and trustworthiness) was introduced by Google several years ago in a guide for assessors. It was these characteristics that the content of a quality site should have possessed.
A major update in August 2018 showed that the E-A-T principles are not just important but more relevant than ever. Sites that meet the requirements of a search engine have received a significant advantage when being promoted in Google TOP.
Google emphasizes: E-A-T principles should be used by all sites, but first of all, by the so-called YMYL resources (Your Money or Your Life):
- Sites that request Personal information about the user.
- Sites on which transactions are conducted.
- Sites on the topic of health and medicine, information on which can affect the well-being of the user.
- Sites, information on which can affect important decisions of the user, for example, sites about parenthood, purchase of the real estate, car, etc.
- Sites where tips are given on the topic of finance, law, etc., which can directly affect the user’s happiness, his life, and his money.
Google Search Trends
What changes await Google search this year, and what should SEO experts pay attention to:
- Quick answers. Google wants to answer user questions, and sites with structured and concise information will take advantage. For this Google, QuickResponseBlockwillbeused.
- Voice search will be mostly useless for optimization.
- Mobile optimization is a necessity but no longer an advantage. All Google services have been adapted to mobile devices, and if the site is not yet mobile-friendly, you need to urgently address this issue just to keep up with the rest.
- The new functionality will appear in the search results, which will further displace organic matter.
- More videos in the search results – carousels, etc., especially in DIY and how-to niches.
- Interactive issuance, for example, showing the user the answer to a question, Google will offer them a few more questions and answers on the topic.
- Google My Business will ask even more questions to users about the establishment or place you own, for example, “What is the atmosphere in the place?” and “How clean is it?” to give users more relevant information.
- Speaking of local searches, Google will still rank results based on user proximity, not quality.
