Google Search #2020: John Mueller shares new key insights on what could change for SEOs at Google in 2021
On SMX Tuesday, it was that time again: John Mueller, the head of the Search Relations team at Google gave a talk called “Google Search #2020: What’s New That Matters to SEOs”. In doing so, he gave an overview of what has changed in the Google search algorithm this year and what we can probably expect next year.
Recap: What changed in Google search in 2020
First of all, John Mueller mentioned again that Google is constantly making changes. In 2019 alone, 3,600 changes were made, which in turn required 380,000 tests throughout the year.
If you haven’t noticed yet, Google has also released the new Google Central page, replacing the old Google Webmaster Central blog. Google is also continuing to push the mobile-first principle, which will be applied exclusively in March 2021. Note: Mueller mentioned in one of his Q&A’s that Google will still index pages that are not mobile optimized. So it remains exciting to see what effects we will feel here.
Another focus was on the new changes for structured data to best support and mark up all Corona events.
“Page Experience Update” in May/June 2021
A new update is scheduled to be rolled out in mid-2021, the so-called “Page Experience Update”. Here, the focus should be exclusively on mobile ranking signals and accordingly also be limited to mobile search only. Mueller emphasized that “Core Web Vitals” will impact mobile rankings alone. All other ranking signals, such as https, remain in place.
One step back: structured data for FAQs
Google has tightened the guidelines under which structured data may be used for FAQs. After website owners made FAQs out of all content to implement appropriate structured data to get an enriched search result, Google had to get pickier about who they show in search results and who they don’t.
Indexing query in Google Search Console
Another topic was disabling the indexing status tool in Google Search Console. To this, Mueller said he did not know when the tool would be available again, but he would personally see to it that a solution was found quickly.
Diversity and inclusion
Mueller’s presentation addressed another important topic: Diversity and inclusion in the SEO industry. John Mueller emphasized that diversity in SEO is a critical issue. He also indicated that diversity was important. It would help your website rank better and you should reflect diversity in your workforce, be a speaker at trade shows and events, and support organizations like “Women in TechSEO.”
All in all, John Mueller gave an exciting presentation. Other topics included the fact that Google Shopping will soon be free, JavaScript SEO and much more.
Whether it’s mobile first or core web vitals, our Performance Buddies are happy to help.
