Google’s mission is to organize information from around the world. A part of this mission is to organize product information for shoppers and retailers. Google does this by collecting accurate and trusted product data and making it available to shoppers. If you are an e-commerce site and wish to reach your target customers, we suggest providing quality product information.
Through several experiments and testing, Google has concluded that customers or users rely on -in-depth product reviews. This algorithm update in the ranking system is specifically designed to reward or encourage such in-depth product reviews.
Google also states that their previous suggestions on ‘how to offer quality content’ are valid and strictly followed. The main goal here is to provide relevant, informative, and well-researched content written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.
Check out the additional points below before writing a product review:
Recently, Google took to Twitter to make an announcement about indexing issues. They said that if anyone living in the U.S. is experiencing indexing issues they can’t figure out, Google has now introduced a channel in which one can report them directly to the Google Search team.
Here’s the announcement:
To report the indexing issues, you will need a verified Google Search Console account to access the ‘Report an Indexing Issue’ button in the footer of the URL inspection help document and the Index Coverage report document.
This feature is beneficial for anyone who needs further support with indexing issues beyond the scope of the Google community forums and support documentation.
What Google has to say about this feature:
“The form collects issues raised by site owners when trying to fix indexing issues with their site in Google Search. A verified Search Console account is a prerequisite for site owners to report issues. Please visit the Google Search Central Help Community for general queries on How Search Works and to improve your website’s visibility in Google Search.“
Before you submit the issue directly to Google, the feature will take you through a step-by-step process to assist you in debugging the indexing issues from your end.
Actionable Strategy – Now, when you have exhausted all possible avenues to resolve this issue, you have one last option to resort to; because we have learned time and time again that the issue really is with Google, not with you. Now you can tell them directly when this is the case!
There are just two situations when Google removes pages from their index. Danny Sullivan from Google recently posted about them:
Danny further explained the nuances and grey areas. The laws vary based on the location, particularly in regards to privacy and defamation.
Copyright violations, on the other hand, are hard to confirm unless reported. Child sex abuse material is virtually illegal everywhere and can be detected easily by automated systems.
He noted that Google has published a policy for personal information removal and sites with exploitative materials, personal threats, and doxxing.
He went on to explain how Google looks for patterns to address these issues, “with trillions of pages and more being added each minute.”
Eliminating inappropriate content page by page or denying access to the entire site cannot be seen as an ideal option, as it isn’t scalable. The entire site would be affected only in instances where there is “a high volume of valid copyright removal requests.” This can be used as a reason to demote the site in the search results.
He also pointed out that Google mostly relies on reported content.
What You Can Do – Before reporting any type of content, have a look to see whether it can qualify as violating or not. Also, keep in mind that even if the content gets removed from Google’s index, it isn’t completely removed from the web.
The modern digital world is not about the plain SEO sitting there in a vacuum. Instead, it has to go hand-in-hand with a good PR strategy. A strategy that will connect all the dots between your business and the whole online community.
In 2021, it’s not a secret that Google takes the number of backlinks to your website among the most important ranking factors. And we deeply doubt that it will change someday. Having high authoritative websites linking back to your website creates a long-lasting trust and reputation. Not only from Google but from other users as well. Unfortunately, earning backlinks has become harder right now. Plus, it’s not enough to get a link. but it has to be given from a website within your niche. And even if you achieved this, you have to make sure that the earned backlink is properly and logically placed. Otherwise, there will be no point in your wasted time and money.
You have to earn backlinks, and that’s where PR comes into play to do what it does the best – win media coverage in online publications.
Fancy websites and social media accounts don’t impress anymore. Current circumstances expect your business to have a wider online presence than those you can create using your own channels. Having a high authoritative website mentioning your company or a publication sharing a review of your products or services – is what attracts attention and builds your digital footprint.
Implementing PR will cover your recognizability while simultaneously increasing your rankings. The general strategy is simple: you earn the media’s attention and their trust; they give you backlinks in return, high-quality backlinks improve your positions, and let more people find your website. Of course, there are many ways to get backlinks for free, but pairing your efforts with a good PR strategy will give you much more than links.
Maybe you haven’t been using it, but almost every industry has media networks. These were created to share knowledge and news about specific niches. Although these places are not always laying on the surface, so you could easily find them when you finally do, you can start using their full potential to work to your advantage. Because media networks are mostly informational resources, it makes them the perfect place to connect with journalists interested in collaboration or looking for opinions, advice, or tips from businesses in this industry.
Do some proper research and use such platforms to get long-lasting relationships with media and sustainable coverage.
Journalists are always looking for something interesting to write about. So why can’t we then make their life a bit easier and let them share a word about our business? Yes, we can, and that’s why both big and small businesses have used press releases for a long time (and I personally doubt that this will ever change).
The most important thing in writing press releases is that they have to be catchy and newsworthy for readers. No one wants to read (and especially publish for free) some self-advertisement about how awesome your business is. That’s why you have to make people get to this conclusion by the value you provide and the benefits they will potentially get from using your services or products.
I’ve discovered this technique not so long ago myself. Social media platforms are great places to discover PR opportunities when you know where to focus your attention. For example, on Twitter, you can follow hashtags like #journorequest or #PRRequest. These are used by journalists in different industries when looking for a contribution to write stories.
Here, you can go even further and combine it with relevant hashtags to your niche. For instance, add a hashtag like #seo to filter the newsfeed and narrow the search results to increase the number of relevant opportunities you may get.
Also, you can use special tools like Twilert that will search for you and notify you whenever a certain hashtag appears.
To start, I have to stress that it shouldn’t be about the hype in the first place. Instead, it should be about the initial desire to help others. The media loves to cover stories about businesses that help others and gain profit from their clients.
That’s why I suggest you do your research and partner up with a charitable organization. This will help to increase the trust of media and bring your reputation to a totally different level. This doesn’t have to be huge like building a hospital, but a contribution of a small amount of each deal for a good cause will be more than enough.
If you’re still not using this to your advantage, you’d better start. A traditional approach is offering your services or products in return for the coverage. What you’re willing to trade with a journalist depends on what business you have (and on the level of your creativity, of course). It can be an opportunity to use your digital product for free for some period of time or offering free samples of what you’re selling online and anything valuable basically.
However, you have to be ready to get an honest review. Some will be positive, but others will be without flowers and butterflies about how the person feels about your product or service.
HARO, or Help A Reporter Out, is by far one of the best platforms that connect journalists and sources who have valuable information to share. Although it was created for journalists to find missing pieces for their stories, right now, it’s used by SEO agencies, business owners, influencers, and bloggers who wish to get media coverage. Using HARO is free (but there are paid options if you want to get more control over filters and what requests you’re receiving.
Respona has an incredibly detailed guide about What it is HARO & How Does It Work?. Check it out if you strive to get more juicy information.
Who doesn’t love to dig deeper when it comes to reading testimonials! And reading all sorts of feedback about the companies you’re dealing with (or only making a decision to deal with). This helps a lot if the person is uncertain about whether or not to give away their money for some services and products. That’s why to earn trust from both media and customers; you have to think of how you can ensure how people might benefit from you. Of course, the perfect way to do it is to share your customer’s stories.
Well-written stories are priceless for PR. People love buying from people, and journalists are not the exception. So they will always opt for tasty content about how your product has changed someone’s life instead of listening to your preaching about your main features.
This is one of the most used tools that you can implement to significantly increase your exposure and credibility while building your digital footprint and earning backlinks from authority websites in your niche. This approach, however, has been modified. Earlier guest posts were used to get that precious backlink, but now it’s mostly used to share expertise and establish yourself as a thought-leader while getting a backlink in return.
That’s why I highly recommend you write valuable and original content for your guest posts, not just for the sake of link building, but to primarily use a PR perspective.
I hope I managed to prove the importance of PR and how it should be intrinsically linked with SEO. Remember that although the main purpose of these activities is to earn backlinks to your website, you always have to make sure you’re doing it right and create decent value within every guest post, product review, or press release. Use my tips wisely, and your efforts will eventually pay off, and you will be able to impress Google while building your online reputation at once.
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