SEO Rewind

12/21/2020: SEO Rewind

Further updates on the Dec 2020 Core Update. Local search ranking factors survey results. New Chrome extension for on-page SEO and a new Christmas song as a bonus (don’t worry, it’s not me singing).

Jan Onesork

• 4 min read
12/21/2020: SEO Rewind

The rollout of the December 2020 Core Update is complete. Google finally finished the rollout of the most recent core update.

For those who were impacted, here is a new in-depth analysis of all changes:

Google’s December 2020 Broad Core Algorithm Update
Glenn Gabe covers Google’s December 2020 core update including analysis, tremors, reversals, key points for site owners, and tips and recommendations.
The Internet Marketing DriverGlenn Gabe

Structured Data Testing Tool is no longer deprecated. Google listened to community feedback, and the beloved Structured Data Testing Tool will not be deprecated. You can use it to validate your schema markup against Schema.org standards.

But for Google and rich snippets, you should preferably use the newer Rich Results Testing tool (or Google Search Console).

An update on the Structured Data Testing Tool
Google DevelopersPosted by Ryan Levering, Google Search Engineering

Whitespark published their yearly Local Search Ranking Factors Survey. Every year, Whitespark asks SEOs several questions regarding local SEO ranking signals. Just recently, they published results for 2020.

Source: https://whitespark.ca/blog/2020-local-search-ranking-factors-survey-analysis/
Source: https://whitespark.ca/blog/2020-local-search-ranking-factors-survey-analysis/

Head over to Whitespark for the full survey results and long-term trends:

Analysis Of The 2020 Local Search Ranking Factors Survey Results
The Local SEO experts have spoken and here are the most important ranking factors in local search. Get Darren Shaw’s breakdown and analysis of the top takeaways and important things you need to know about the 2020 Local Search Ranking Factors.
WhitesparkDarren Shaw

Also, Google recently published a new video that illustrates how location is important for search:

How location helps provide more relevant search results
There are many factors that play a role in providing helpful results when you search for something on Google. These factors help us rank or order results and can include the words of your query, the relevance or usability of web pages in our index, and the expertise of sources.Location is another im…
GoogleDanny Sullivan

New Chrome extension for checking on-page SEO. Kristina Azarenko recently created a very nice Chrome extension that lets you quickly check on-page elements of a page, including schema markup.

SEO Pro Extension
Quickly check SEO on any page. This SEO tool is a free extension for Google Chrome browser. It helps you check and analyze the…
Chrome Web Store

Google lets you visualize makeup looks and try on products directly from the Google app. A neat addition to the shopping experience in search tries to “bring some of the benefits of in-store shopping to your phone”. This feature is currently available in the US.

Source: Google (https://blog.google/products/shopping/shopping-beauty-product-try-it-google/)
Source: Google
Shopping for a beauty product? Try it on with Google.
You can now try on beauty products like lipstick or eyeshadow using AR on Google Search.
GoogleArchana Kannan

The 12 Days of SEO Christmas To wrap this up, here is some SEO Christmas spirit from Davide Previti 🤩:

If you are sick of Christmas music already, he also has an older non-Christmas song - “The Algos Are A-Changin'” 😁🙌  Enjoy!

There won’t be a typical SEO Rewind next Monday. But it’ll try to prepare something else instead. Stay tuned.

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