Search Engine Recap - Week 35 (2024)

This week brought us new documentation updates from Google, a fresh version of Merchant Center, and important news regarding the use of Open Graph title tags. Here is an overview.

Google's Updated Documentation Shows Why You Should Refresh Content

Google has revised its documentation to emphasize the importance of updating content, highlighting four key reasons: enhancing content accuracy, increasing relevance, boosting user engagement, and maintaining or improving search visibility.

Google stresses that updates should involve meaningful changes rather than minor tweaks. By keeping content fresh and valuable, businesses can improve their rankings and better reach their target audiences.

Google Now Uses Open Graph Title Tags for Title Links

Google has started using the Open Graph title tag as a fallback for title links in search results when the standard HTML title tag is either missing or deemed inadequate.

This change underscores the growing importance of correctly optimizing Open Graph tags, as they can directly influence how content is presented in search results.

Ensuring that both title tags and Open Graph tags accurately reflect the content can improve search visibility and click-through rates (CTR).

Google Replaces Classic Merchant Center with New Version

Google has announced that it will replace the Classic Merchant Center with a new version in September 2024.

The updated Merchant Center will feature a more streamlined interface and integrate automation tools to simplify product data management for retailers.

The new platform aims to enhance the user experience by making it easier for businesses to list products and manage their online presence.

Google advises website owners to familiarize themselves with the changes and transition to the new system to ensure a smooth switch before the September deadline.

New Documentation for Organization and ProfilePage Structured Data

Finally, Google has updated its documentation for both Organization and ProfilePage structured data, providing more detailed guidelines for the correct implementation of this markup.

For organizations, the update includes clearer instructions on required and optional properties, helping search engines better understand a company’s information.

For ProfilePage, the update includes more precise definitions of required and optional properties, guiding website owners in ensuring that structured data accurately represents personal profiles in search results.

This revision aims to improve the visibility and presentation of individual profiles by aligning them with Google’s latest guidelines. Website owners are encouraged to review and adjust their markup accordingly.

Takeaways and Recommendations

Week 35 was a week of significant documentation updates from Google, along with the announcement of a new version of Merchant Center.

It’s important to note Google’s continued focus on content and its alignment with structured data.

The documentation emphasizing content updates highlights how crucial a competitive and ongoing content strategy is. This focus is also reflected in all new core updates.

Similarly, the updated documentation on structured data underscores the importance of using necessary markup to achieve maximum visibility in search results.

Need help understanding and working with either content or structured data? Get in touch with Bonzer. As a specialized SEO agency, we work every day to elevate businesses to the top rankings in search results.