Google’s Search Engine To Show More “Hidden Gems”
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has played a massive role for many companies in getting their website and brand at the top of search results on the Internet.
Companies do plenty of research and data analysis to determine what keywords rank their pages at the top of searches. As such, some content is more targeted for the search engine than the end user, the searcher. With this competition, a searcher may not be able to find relevant and helpful content that may answer the nature of their query. Users may struggle to find the “hidden gem” content that is tailored to their query but may lack the SEO buildout needed to rank on top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
This article will take a look into how Google is going to change its search engine so that more-relevant websites are popping up for their users.
Changes to Search
As announced on May 10, 2023, Google plans to improve the search rank results process.
Moving forward, Google’s ranking criteria will try to deemphasize the importance of keywords and look more for content specific to the users and what they are searching for. With more personalized search, these “hidden gems” should be easier to find than before.
Reasons for the Change
Many times searchers will be unable to find what they are looking for after multiple searches, which can cause frustration and waste time. An ideal Google search for someone would have their answer or article come up and be at the top. This way, they get their answer without wasting any time.
Common Subjects That May Benefit
For some types of queries, the top result in a search page may be a website or instruction that provides mostly useless information
After the update is completed, Google will place more emphasis on showing blogs and forum threads that better answer query questions and provide users with “hidden gems” that would otherwise be buried within the search results.
Websites created by experts on a particular topic should also move toward the top of searches.
Vice-versa, websites offering a general or wide variety of information may trend toward the bottom of searches if they lack expertise in a given subject area. Websites offering legal or medical advice outside of their expertise, for example, may not rank for queries on those topics.
Moving Beyond Popularity: Google’s New Approach to Ranking
It appears that the way we search may change going forward. Instead of Google rewarding popular websites with better rankings, the search engine aims to provide
more accuracy when it comes to results. The move should save search users time and frustration when they are on Google and provide more reliable and “hidden gem” answers to their questions that may have otherwise been hard to find.