April Update: What's Happening With Google?
Welcome to the April LifeX Marketing update! Here's what you'll find in this update (click a section to go directly there):
What’s Happening With Google?
Have you ever made a rule for your children, or a policy in your business, and then regretted making that rule/policy six months later?
Yeah, me too.
And according to many marketing and SEO experts, Google is having the same feeling right now.
Google is constantly making updates, but last fall Google made several core updates called Helpful Content Updates. The overall philosophy was solid: give better rankings to websites with content that was truly helpful to humans.
So, what was the problem?
The problem was that Google ended up shifting a lot of authority to major brands and forums, even if the content on these sites was less credible or not as helpful.
This resulted in a few things:
- Many small to medium-sized companies saw some loss in rankings to major brands and forums, especially on blogs.
- Forums like Reddit and Quora - where anyone can say anything - suddenly started ranking in the top search results for many terms.
- Spammers started targeting Reddit and Quora with significant amounts of AI-generated spam in attempts to get referral links and clicks to their websites.
- People wanting to conduct research online were having trouble finding credible 3rd-party sources. With the top search results shifting to brands or unreliable forum sites, people had trouble finding unbiased 3rd-party websites with credible experience and information.
In a nutshell: Google suddenly found itself accused of being biased towards large brands and promoting non-credible information on forum sites. Ouch.
What is Google going to do?
No one knows for sure, but Google is already working on updates in early 2024 to crack down on spam and mass-produced AI content. And while we don’t know what the future of 2024 holds, several SEO experts expect Google to make a shift back to more credible content from smaller companies and brands that have quality content.
What is LifeX doing?
We continue to monitor overall keywords and organic clicks for all of our client sites. And while some of our clients have seen some loss in blog traffic to larger brands, quite a few have also seen an increase in blog traffic - especially if quality competition is lower.
Our team also continues to read updates and attend regular trainings about updates to Google, SEO, and overall search trends.
Like any industry, we wish we could see exactly what Google has planned, but in staying up-to-date with trends and SEO best practices, we are confident we can continue helping our clients win!
A Few Easter Reflections
After coming through Holy Week and Easter, I was thinking about how Easter fits with our mission statement at LifeX Marketing: “Multiplying wholeness in the lives of our team, clients, and communities by living like Jesus.”
Several of my thoughts:
- Jesus said the 1st commandment is to love God, and the 2nd commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves. Am I caring for my co-workers and customers as I would care for myself?
- It’s easy to hide my struggles behind a computer screen, bury them in emails, or numb them through social media. But am I willing to share my struggles with other humans?
- If others share their struggles with me, am I willing to do what I can to help multiply wholeness in their situation?
- Jesus said He came not only to bring life but to bring ABUNDANT life!
Meet Ryan Zook, Our Web Development Lead
If you'd like to punch a hole in your computer or crush your wifi router to smithereens because nothing is working and you can't figure out why, Ryan is your guy. His technical wizardry has been earned from years of hard work in web development and computer repair.
Today, LifeX and our clients reap the rewards of Ryan's experience with optimized websites that run like well-oiled machines.
Outside of work, Ryan enjoys his role as a firefighter as well as pounding the pavement with his trusty running shoes. He strives to fill his God-given role as a loving father and husband and grow in wholeness as a child of God.
Monthly Meme
We were seeing how “old” LifeX team members were based on this chart. No one came in at 25, but if you do, please let us know - we’ll make sure you get some extra candles for your next birthday 😉🎂
How Can We Pray For You Or Rejoice With You?
Thank you to those who provide prayer requests - our team appreciates the opportunity to bring your requests to God in prayer in our Monday morning meetings and throughout the week.
It’s part of our mission at LifeX Marketing: Multiplying wholeness in the lives of our team, clients, and communities by living like Jesus.
If you have a way we can pray with your team or rejoice with you, please leave it here.
Thoughts or Comments?
We always love hearing from people; please leave your comment or feedback below!
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