In a blog post published on Oct. 15, 2020, Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's Senior Vice President of Search & Assistant, Geo, Ads, Commerce, Payments & NBU explained several updates to its ranking algorithm Stemming Google's research into artificial intelligence (AI), these were largely internal. By better understanding search queries, the algorithm is now capable of indexing specific passages rather than entire pages.

According to Raghavan, this will improve approximately seven percent of all search queries as it is rolled out. It will also address video semantics, spelling mistakes, and subtopics that are relevant to a query.

"Passage-based indexing isn't going to require any new tactics, nor will it necessitate an SEO overhaul for most websites," said Cane. "As long as your content is well-written, organized, and relevant, don't expect your rankings to change much. That said, according to Google's Martin Splitt, sites with a large volume of long-form content might potentially see an uptick in traffic."

"This is one more step in Google's constant push to make its algorithm more intelligent and intuitive," she said. "I expect they'll continue this into 2021 and beyond. They've certainly made no secret of the fact that user intent and content quality are now the be-all and end-all of ranking — that knowing your audience and delivering value are now more important than the technical side."

Cane said that even if you're not concerned about the algorithm update, it's important to at least be aware of it.

"There's little doubt in my mind that we're going to see snake oil salespeople flooding the web with claims about 'passage ranking,'" said Cane. "Understanding how the algorithm interacts with your content means you're less likely to fall prey to it. In addition, it's one more indicator that you should strive for better organization in your content, as well as an indicator of future changes."

"Divide content into easily-digestible chunks with subheads and ensure that the division between a piece's core topic and subtopics remains clear," Cane said. "And above all, remember that you aren't creating for search engines. You're doing it for your audience."

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Source: PRWeb
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