Below are some of the data points on the leaked API documents we think are important to highlight. If you aren’t implementing these practices, now is a great time to revamp your SEO strategy and get your website optimized for search rankings.
Creating helpful content that people will engage with is vital to having good overall site quality.
The leak revealed that Google uses Chrome data and clickstream data to determine overall site quality. That means when you create helpful content people will land on your page, read your content, spend more time on your site, go to other pages on your website, convert, contact you, and enter your funnel. It also means they don’t return to the SERP page to find more answers, which tells Google you have relevant information that people want to engage with and answers their questions.
You have to look at the big picture when it comes to your brand.
You can’t just stuff keywords, and blogs on your website and hope you rank high. You need to think about how people engage with and perceive your brand across all platforms, which includes social media. Your brand needs to be credible and authoritative, and show that people can trust your information. If you just “set it and forget it” that won’t work.
User experience is everything.
In the Google API leak, there is a mention of NavBoost. This analyzes user behavior like the length of time they’re on your site, where they’re clicking, and how they interact with your page. Your site should be optimized to meet user expectations with site structure, mobile optimization, easy navigation, and relevant content.
Get rid of old outdated content.
This doesn’t mean you need to purge all of your old content. Look at outdated blogs, articles, and other content to see if it can be updated with relevant information. Google has a “freshness” rank that it uses to ensure the most up-to-date information shows up first.
Human-created content is king.
When it comes to Google’s E.E.A.T. being authoritative is important. That means when you publish a blog you need to include an author and even a short bio to prove their expertise, experience, and trustworthiness and establish credibility with your brand.
There is a lot more we could unpack with this leak, however, we don’t have the entire picture. We don’t know what Google uses for ranking and what data they are storing. We also don’t know how they score what they use for ranking. Our advice, look at your SEO strategy and see if you have room for improvement and optimize all aspects of your website’s performance. As marketers we love to test, so start with one change and see what happens. Look at your website from a user’s point of view and make changes as needed. If you don’t know how to start optimizing your website, give Hexcode a call. We are a 100% in-house marketing team with experts in every corner ready to help you catapult your website to the top of SERPs.
