SEO Round-Up: Another Day, Another Google Algorithm Update

SEO wiz Joe Wheeler takes us through the latest news in SEO as part of our SEO Round-up. Find out more.

SEO ROUND-UP: ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATE

As we move into 2022, we look at some biggest news in the world of SEO right now. This week, we look at (yet another) Google algorithm update, IndexNow and Yoast for Shopify.

Another New Google Algorithm Update

2021 has been a rollercoaster year in SEO, with Core Web Vitals and multiple broad algorithm updates being rolled out. December seems to have been a fitting end to what was already a crazy year with SEMRush reporting it as the most volatile month of 2021.

Google confirmed a Product Reviews Update was rolled out over three weeks in December. The intention of this update is to "reward high-level product review content above thinner product review content". A similar update was also rolled out in April. They claim that it is not a penalty, but instead promotes or rewards higher quality content.

Google have provided advice on how to write product reviews that meet their standards. Recommendations include:

• Evaluate the product from a users perspective
• Share quantitative measurements about how the product performs
• Discuss benefits and drawbacks based on your own original research

IndexNow Wordpress Plugin Released By Bing

Microsoft Bing have released a new WordPress plugin for IndexNow, which allows webmasters to get instant indexing from Bing and Yandex in a few clicks.

IndexNow was released back in October 2021 and is intended to be used to feed new and updated URLs to any search engine. While only Bing and Yandex are participating currently, Google have confirmed they are testing IndexNow.

You can learn more about IndexNow by clicking here.

Yoast Seo To Be Available on Shopify

In further plugin news, Shopify users will be able to use the renowned Yoast SEO plugin on Shopify from January 18th 2022. 

Over the years, Yoast has gained a reputation as one of the go-to SEO plugins for WordPress users, providing easy to follow guidance on how to improve the on-page SEO for URLs across your site. 

However, there is one big difference - pricing. Traditionally, Yoast has always been a freemium plugin on WordPress, whereby essential features are free but users must pay a fee to receive all features. However, on Shopify, Yoast will come at a cost of $29 per 30 days.

That wraps up the SEO Round-up from this week! If you would like Joe and the SEO team to assist you, then get in touch!