For many businesses, Google Search is their primary source of traffic, so any algorithm change that impacts results and ranking should be carefully observed and analyzed.
Google’s latest algorithm change (“diversity”) is attempting to limit the results/links originating from the same domain. As the name suggests, the idea is to diversify the results and avoid having one or two websites dominating search results.
More specifically, Google will not allow (in most cases) more than two listings from the same website in their top results (e.g. first page).
Source: https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1136739062843432960
For example, if we search for a USB charger “Anker PowerPort Mini”, Google returns 2 results from anker.com, and 2 results from amazon.com; prior to the “diversity” algorithm change the search results would have been dominated by amazon.com.
In this specific example, many non-amazon sellers should benefit from this change, because amazon.com will not dominate the first page of Google’s search results. We predict a similar impact on Yelp and similar sites.
That being said, the diversity algorithm update is still very new, so it’s hard to assess the real impact, but our initial feeling is that over time, most businesses will see a positive outcome from this change. In theory, more domains (i.e. businesses) will surface to the top of the search results.
However, some websites will see a negative impact – we foresee established (high ranking) websites losing some traffic because their content will no longer dominate search results.
Over time, the diversity change may turn out to be a great update, if it filters out sites that adopted the mantra of quantity over quality — in other words, websites that are trying to stuff search results with as many pages/links as possible – littering the internet with shorter form, and poor quality content.
Now That You Understand The Change, What Should You Do Next?
As is the case with all Google algorithm updates, our recommendation is to monitor the impact to your website via Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and any other SEO tool you may be using.
For example, do you see any significant impact on your traffic, clicks, impressions, primary keywords, click-though-rate, and average position?
Summary
For many businesses, Google is their primary source of traffic and leads, and if you fall under this category, then understanding and monitoring search algorithm changes can make all the difference to your website (and business).
With that in mind, follow the diversity algorithm update carefully and take advantage of it – every update from Google is an opportunity to bypass your competition, as long as you act quickly.
Related: Google’s mobile-first indexing change is a must read!
