Changes to Google Search August 2021

As everyone was scrambling to adjust to Google’s Page Experience update in June and July, Google also rolled out a Link Spam update starting on July 26 and not ending until August 24. Learn more about this update and others in this roundup.

Link Spam Update

If you are using affiliate links, be sure you qualify them with rel=”sponsored” regardless of how you create them. If you do not, you may get hit with a manual action penalty. Ensure that if you are using sponsored or guest posts, you are using appropriate rel codes. As always, use high-quality links that your users will find helpful. Google reinforced that you can link to a domain with lower authority than your site without being hurt as long as you are linking to valuable content.

Google Changes Title Procedures

Google announced that they changed the way that they are generating some titles. They say they have changed titles if they were very long, stuffed with keywords, or the page lacks title tags. About 80% of the time, according to the company, they are still relying on the h1 header or the title that webmasters have indicated in some other way. The company says they may add site names where they feel that information is helpful to viewers.

Google rolled out the new process on August 17, and they say they are already making refinements in the process. Google insists that users prefer the process. When Google makes the change, they will usually use content found in another header on the page, but that is not always the case. In some cases, it is even taking the title from a different page pointed to in the content.

If you need help on your website or need a complete audit to show you what needs improvement, contact us as we are always ready to lend a helping hand.

Resources
Search Herold
Google Developers
Search Engine Land
Brodie Clark
Google Developers