Google SEO
Search Engine Land is your premier source for Google SEO news, strategies, and in-depth content.
You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, and the latest data to help you optimize your website, work smarter, and make data-driven decisions that boost your organic search performance.
Why staying updated on Google SEO matters
Google’s search algorithms evolve constantly, and staying ahead of these updates is key to maintaining and improving your website’s rankings. Whether it’s changes to core web vitals, guides to E-E-A-T, or advancements in AI-driven search like generative AI features in Google Search, understanding these shifts can give you a competitive edge.
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Google testing more subtle Search Generative Experience design
This "lite" version as some are calling it fits better with the current traditional search results.
Google resolves indexing issue with new content after nearly 6 hours
Google confirmed the issue and said it delayed the indexing of newly published content between 1:30 pm and 7:20 p.m.
Google releases October 2023 broad core update
This is the third Google core update of 2023. The rollout is expected to take up to two weeks to complete.
Google unleashes October 2023 spam update
Google said this update improves its "coverage in many languages and spam types" and will roll out over the next few weeks.
Impact of the Google September 2023 helpful content was big for the SEO industry
Overall, the tools did not show as much volatility with the helpful content update than it did with core updates - but this was a big update.
Google September 2023 helpful content is now done rolling out
This update kicked off on September 14 and took 14 days to roll out.
Google to block Bard’s shared chats from showing in Google Search
After Google released shared conversations in Bard, Google Search began crawling and indexing those public chats.
Google’s helpful content update did not yet target hosted third-party content
Gary Illyes from Google said this was just a change made to the documentation and was not implemented in its algorithms yet.
What’s new with the Google helpful content update
Now that Google has released the September 2023 helpful content update, let's dig in to see what is new.
Google September 2023 helpful content system update rolling out
The update should take two weeks to roll out, Google said. This is the first helpful content system update since December 2022.
Overcoming the Google SGE challenge: Assessment and recovery strategies
Join this webinar to learn how it will impact your traffic and more.
How the August 2023 Google core update compared to March 2023 core updates
We asked some of the Google tracking data providers for data on the latest Google algorithm update.
Google Search Console rolling out new Merchant Center integrated reports
These new reports will show you issues with products not showing on Search and changes in visibility of your product listings.
Google Search updated its language matching systems
This update was released a couple of weeks ago and helps Google match the searchers language to documents in its index.
Google August 2023 Core Update rollout is now complete
The update took 16 days to roll out - we hope you only saw increases in visibility.
Google Site names now work for all languages
So if your site is not in English, check how your Site name appears in Google Search.
Is Google’s new AI chatbot the Bard of the digital age?
Explore its functionalities, use cases and how it’s redefining the AI landscape in our guide.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Google Search Generative Experience officially rolls out links to webpages within answers
Launching first in the U.S., Google said it will keep testing how it presents results and prioritize driving traffic to websites.
Google Search testing “Mentioned in” search snippet
Google's expandable carousel search snippet feature informs searchers which other webpages mention a website.
Google Search can now index CSV files
Google updated its help document to say it can now index Comma-Separated Values (.csv) files.
Google releases August 2023 broad core update
This is the second Google core update of 2023. The rollout is expected to take up to two weeks to complete.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Six ways generative AI can transform your search strategy
The death of the 10 blue links: The revolutionary role of generative AI in search.
Google Search Generative Experience adds SGE while browsing
Paywalled content will not work with the new SGE while browsing feature. Google SGE also added definitions and color coding syntax.
Google Merchant Center adds 3D model link [virtual_model_link] attribute
This attribute helps Google Merchant Center showcase your 3D and AR product images.
Webinar: The art of winning audiences through content
Transform your content strategy and truly connect with your audience.
Google reduces the visibility of HowTo and FAQ rich results in search
You may see a drop in click through rates from Google Search if you are impacted.
Google Search Console link report fixed
Two weeks ago Google confirmed its link report had reporting issues, those reporting issues are now resolved.
Google Search rolls out site name updates and workarounds
After much frustration over the new Sitenames feature in Google search, Google released some additional updates.
Google to fix link report in Search Console
After numerous reports of Google showing a fraction of the sites links, Google said it will fix an issue with the report.
Google confirms related search operator is going away
The related search operator would show you sites related to the URL you asked about. Google said it hasn't worked well.
Google fixes Google News indexing bug
This bug impacted the the traffic of may news publishers for a 3 week period.
Google’s Core Web Vitals INP issues email causing concern
Google Search Console sent out emails to site owners where their INP scores are not meeting the mark.
Google confirms bug with Google News impacting publisher traffic
This bug may be impacting publisher traffic from Google News.
Google updates page indexing report in Search Console with more fine-grained issues
Some SEOs began to notice a spike in errors and issues being reported by Google Search Console. Google said it is not an issue, but a reporting change.
Google to explore alternatives to robots.txt in wake of generative AI and other emerging technologies
Google said it will engage with the web and AI communities with public discussions during this process.
Build authority and dominate organic search like a boss
If you're ready to break free from traditional SEO methods and unlock the true potential of organic traffic, this webinar is a game-changer.
Twitter didn’t just block unregistered users, it blocked Google Search
While Google still has access to the Twitter firehose, Google has still dropped over half of the Twitter URL it indexed.
Google to deprecate Sitemaps ping endpoint later this year
Instead, Google is recommending an accurate lastmod date in your Sitemap file.
Google adds INP report to Search Console
In order for you to prepare for when Google replaces FID with INP as a core web vital metric, Google has launched a new report to aid you.