Changes in SEO for March 2019 - Tech WebSite Ranking

Changes in SEO for March 2019

The brand new year 2019 began with a few awesome surprise announcements and plenty of speculation as businesses and entrepreneurs came down from the holiday season. These are the very most important March 2019 SEO updates to keep in your mind while moving forward.

Algorithm Update

Google announced the latest Panda update on Jan. 22 after nearly a week of shaky ranking displacements and rumors. According to Google, it has affected approximately 1.2 percent of search results, making it another routine addition to the Panda lineup that primarily focuses on content quality.

Official word is that the earlier disturbances beginning on Jan. 17 were not caused by any algorithm changes, though continued reports of shifts on the results pages bear watching.

Improved Local Search Features

Google has long offered listings for local businesses to help potential customers find services in their area. In earlier years, many small businesses had almost no presence online, sticking to older methods like advertisements and the phone book. By 2019, however, the need for an online presence is well-established. In an effort to reduce waiting times and confusion over its verification process, Google has opened a call center for business owners to take their problems directly to the company.

Bing and Facebook Team Up

Hoping to extend its influence into the search market, Facebook launched Graph Search in March. The social network is working with Bing to collect and dissect the massive hoards of information stored on its servers, allowing users to find people with similar hobbies, organize photos and find businesses.

As Google’s largest competitor, Bing’s involvement seems to be a direct challenge to the search engine giant’s long and tedious method of bringing companies to consumers’ eyes. Whether Graph Search proves to be a worthy competitor remains to be seen.

Sleeker Google Images

Google renovated its popular image search tool with a sharper design and more ways for users to access the hosting site. It hopes to improve click-through rates with the move and make it easier to pick out the best image at a glance. As media becomes a more important part of design and page quality, the change may prove to be a significant one.

Chrome Secure Search

Finally, Google pulled one last project out of its sleeve by revealing that the next version of Chrome will automatically use a Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, connection when conducting searches from the address bar. This improves browser security, but it has potentially negative ramifications for SEO. Queries sent over an SSL connection withhold the information from analytic programs, meaning keyword assessment has just become even more difficult. Focusing on other metrics and traffic tendencies may be the only way to counteract this loss of data.

Guest Post by : Paul Teitelman, is a Toronto SEO expert who always stays up-to-date on the latest optimization developments. If you are feeling overwhelmed by constant search engine updates, hire SEO expert Paul Teitelman to keep your business on the right track!