Last year was a defining moment for Core Updates and improvements to how SEOs enhance the quality of pages for visitors. We may expect a further variety of SERPs in the future, thanks to advancements in Google’s algorithms and new features from technologies like Google Lens. These changes will have an impact on how we handle SEO today and, in the future, too.
Multimedia First
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What are the benefits of a multimedia-first SEO strategy?
MUM is the most recent addition to Google’s array of super-powerful algorithms that aid in the understanding of data in new and novel ways. It works in conjunction with BERT, but it is far more powerful.
MUM stands for “multitask unified model”. It can handle natural language in over 75 languages, with more on the way. It can also process text and photos with equal quality, and shortly, it will be able to handle videos and audio. It means we are going to witness its influence in the SERPs, particularly in terms of how they appear. It will also affect some of the specific algorithm adjustments in the future.
This shift in focus is a logical progression from a mobile-first digital experience that enables people to interact with the data in real-time via a variety of tools, inputs, and outputs, frequently all at the same time. Google’s effort for deeper understanding – and ranking media like video and image – will force SEOs to take a new look at multimodal content.
Use of Google Lens
Google has been investing a lot in picture recognition systems for nearly a decade, but they have lately increased the pace and size of its implementation into everyday search.
That’s why upgrades to Google Lens have featured front and center at recent prime events such as Search On and Google I/O, and their future aspirations to go into health rely heavily on perfecting their visual search capabilities.
They have integrated Google Lens into the search widget for Pixel and Android phones. You will also find them in Chrome’s mobile search bar in 2021. Google Lens upgrades from last year included the capability to use augmented reality to translate content in over 100 languages and observe focused visual searches of images. You can see that change is underway when you add to this list of capabilities their impending launch of a MUM-enabled option to “Add Questions” to Lens searches.
Security for Speed
Both security and speed are well-known ranking criteria. Many people realized that the two were closely related during the big Core Web Vitals push in 2021. It was observed that server security optimization boosted page speed for numerous customers on a per-account basis. On a broader scale, when Wix increased their Core Web Vitals (CWV) performance over the last few years, improvements such as global HTTP/2 to advance SSL speeds were vital to the task.
Google will prioritize security in its products and services in the following years. Chrome pledges to bring out new security and privacy features, including security features for cross-site navigation and iframes, which will add extra checks when users move between sites and utilize particular services.
In the previous year, the adoption of HTTP/3, the newest HTTP protocol, has increased fivefold throughout the web, with roughly 25% of domains currently using it. Even though Cloudflare and many other leading cloud providers use it, it is not yet standardized. You may have to manually activate the update for your primary server and/or CDN if you want to get the most out of the features here. It should be a crucial factor for you to consider if you’re looking for a new CDN or server partner in the future year.
Diverse Google Channel SEO Specializations
As customers migrate between their specific channels and applications, Google works to eliminate friction. They’re developing a more dynamic and specialized SERP, which will require SEO expertise to acquire momentum.
From a user’s viewpoint, it results in rich mobile-friendly SERPs that link consumers to high-performance apps such as Google Maps and specific channels such as Google Travel. It also allows Google to obtain and integrate the information that consumers require in a highly contextualized manner. Because Google-managed properties provide them authority over a large number of informational sources simultaneously, improving and linking existing channels will be vital if they want to serve increasingly complex search results.
While this has traditionally been the domain of transactional sectors like retail and hotels, Google’s dedication to multi-modality implies it will likely become increasingly common among top-of-the-funnel inquiries as well. SEO efforts must also be undertaken to optimize profiles and performance inside each of the most appropriate channels to enhance exposure in the SERPs. As a result of the rapid rate of change in each channel, SEO generalization is becoming less and less probable to reach a critical mass of influence. Rather, coordinated teams for SEO specializations are more likely to experience the biggest improvements.
Borderless International SEO
Three variables will become major drivers for international SEO in the following year –
- the expansion of borderless e-commerce
- the maturation of AI translation technologies
- the implementation of MUM
Borderless E-Commerce
Our digital experience has been considerably altered as a result of digital acceleration. The importance of a company’s physical address, time zone, and currency is changing. On the other hand, the barriers to trade for global companies are lowering. While brick-and-mortar enterprises still have a considerable impact on regional SEO and local SERPs, customers are increasingly willing (and, in some cases, wanting) to buy from vendors outside their home nation.
The goal of SEO is to meet clients where they are, and this shift in customer expectations opens up new business prospects. Consider trying out foreign SEO strategies, as well as low-cost and low-friction market entrance channels like free Google Merchant Listings.
Try to improve your landing pages and web e-commerce E-A-T to develop confidence with new buyers if your international expansion includes selling on big international sites like Amazon, Ali Express, Wish, or eBay. Finally, for buyers in Asian countries and other emerging economies, think mobile-first.
Conclusion
We expect to see more diverse content varieties emerge from the web as MUM evolves. Everyone benefits from increased speed and security. More layered SERP elements aid in emphasizing the significance of Search Engine Optimization firm. Building a global client base also enables firms to be more robust in a volatile market. Some of the adjustments we’re expecting to see will be significant, but they should help SEO in the long run.
