Welcome to this month’s edition of What’s New? It’s kind of a newsletter and kind of a roundup full of things we know you’ll find interesting. From industry news to MyAdvice product updates, here’s what’s new and newsworthy in our world and yours.
1. Google releases the Helpful Content algorithm update.
According to Google, the main goal of this update is to reward websites that write content for people, and penalize those who write primarily for search engines. Content that’s written specifically with the goal of ranking well is often not particularly helpful or useful, and these are the websites that will likely see penalties as the dust settles. While this update finished rolling out on September 6th, algorithm updates usually take some time to show the full scope of their impacts on search rankings.
What this means for our clients: MyAdvice creates content that follows Google’s long-standing advice and guidelines to create content for people, not for search engines. People-first content creators focus first on creating satisfying content, while also utilizing SEO best practices to bring searchers additional value.
2. MyAdvice is creating a new Onboarding team.
In true MyAdvice nature, we are continuing to make incremental improvements in operations and are restructuring the way we onboard client subscriptions. Led by Emma Fox, this team will be tasked with onboarding all client features in a comprehensive way to ultimately create a more seamless experience. Instead of onboarding features separately (Local Power Team, Review Power Team, Social Power Team), an Onboarding & Support Specialist will be responsible for the start-to-finish onboarding of all features included in the client’s subscription.
What this means for clients: Client subscriptions will be onboarded in a comprehensive and unified way by an Onboarding and Support Specialist.
3. Reviewing Google’s local search factors.
There are a lot of variables that determine where a local business shows up in search engine results pages (SERPs), so we thought it would be a good time to review Google’s local search ranking factor groups.
The elements seen in the graphic below all work together to improve a client’s online visibility over time.
4. Google updates its Business Profile spam policy.
What’s considered spam when it comes to Google Business Profile posts? The newest update states to avoid “duplicate photos, posts, videos, and logos.” Posts that do not comply with this policy may be removed from Google Maps and Google Search.
What this means for clients: Since MyAdvice does not regularly post to Business Profiles, clients should be proactive in making sure they aren’t duplicating their posts. Also, if a client is using logos or stock images in their posts Google may reject the post – avoid these.
