At the end of 2019 i'm sure many of us had no idea there was a pandemic coming to change the way of the world in so many ways. That has reflected in the ways many of us do business, with huge demands for online working facilities. Some smaller online video companies were pretty much unheard of back then and now have became the go-to video service, usurping many of the big players for their name and brand, imho.
Change helped focus the mind for many, and those quick to adapt made every effort to capitalise on the opportunities.
Throughout 2020, we continued to discuss the key topics surrounding our business, and following the news as it broke and the trends taking place.
Here's a quick rundown of a few of the many thousands of posts here at WebmasterWorld we covered throughout 2020, with some you may have missed. This is part 1, which focusses on Google. Part 2 will follow and will cover many other sectors.
Let's dive in...
If you are struggling with Google SEO it might be due to you not keeping up with Google's evolving technology. Our thread here might help.
Keeping Up With Google's Evolving TechnologyGoogle has updated its Mobile First documentation with more on mobile vs desktop, such as structured data on both, same robots instructions, both being crawlable.
Google Updates Mobile First Indexing Best Practices Google Picard, back in January, was a Main Algo Update,
Update Picard - Google Core Algo Update - Jan 2020 Google Mobile First Indexing was to become a real thing in 2020
Google Notifications in GSC for Mobile First Indexing Earlier in 2020
Google Confirms Mobile First Indexing Program for All Sites And before long, Google has confirmed the September 2020 roll-out completion is now postponed until March 2021 giving more time for webmasters to prepare.
Google Updates and SERP Changes - January 2020Google Updates and SERP Changes - February 2020Google Updates and SERP Changes - March 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - April 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - May 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - June 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - July 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - August 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - September 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - October 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - November 2020 Google Updates and SERP Changes - December 2020 Google has updated the webmaster document on Discover and it now specifically mentions E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness).
Google Discover Now Refers to E-A-T Google
considers "nofollow" as a hint as of 1 March, 2020 Here's a little info that might be of interest.
Google's John Mueller on "Link Juice" Google is planning a search ranking change incorporating Core Web Vitals and planning for the new algorithm to roll out in 2021.
Google Page Experience: Upcoming Search Ranking Change A question often asked at WebmasterWorld
How do you track Google rankings for clients? There was a problem back in August,, and we're seeing these more often, especially as updates take place.
Google Suffers Major Glitch in Search Results - August 10, 2020 Google Confirms Indexing Problems with Mobile, and Canonicalization and it was
discussed in depth here. This is worth a read if you haven't already.
Google Outlines Extensive Developments In Search and the Impacts on Ranking Two important aspects to consider when developing a new site.
Google Page Experience Core Web Vitals and Search Signals More about Core Web Vitals.
Google "Core Web Vitals" replace 'Speed Report' in GSC This update came as a surprise in December 2020.
Google Releases Broad Core Update Called: "December 2020 Core Update" Google came out with a Covid-19 retail support.
Google Shopping Ads Now Free Retail Listings in Google Search News of link ad units retiring didn't go down well with WebmasterWorld Members.
Google AdSense Retiring Link Ad Units Core Web Vitals and AdSense together were a topic in 2020.
How are you all dealing with "Core Web Vitals" and AdSense? Cookies are no longer the trackers favourite as more sophisticated methods of tracking are developed.
Google Conversion Modelling Without Cookies Part 2 to follow.
