Keeping Up With Google’s Latest Product Review Algorithm Update

Google just released the fourth version of its product reviews update. This update is designed to improve the ranking of product review-related content on the web. The first product reviews update was launched on April 8, 2021, the second was launched on December 1, 2021, and the third was released on March 23, 2022. The new update is called the July 2022 product reviews update.

What to Expect in the New Product Review Algorithm Update

Google announced the update on Twitter, citing the usual help manual for writing product reviews.

The Google product reviews update wants to encourage review material that goes above and beyond much of what you read on the web. Google has said that it will prioritize these kinds of product reviews in its search results rankings.

Google does not actively penalize lower-quality product evaluations with "thin material that basically summarizes a lot of items," but if you submit such content and find your rankings demoted because other content is pushed above yours, it will seem like a penalty. According to Google, this is not a penalty for your content; rather, Google is rewarding sites with more insightful content.

Technically, this update should only impact product review content and not other types of content.

What's the Purpose of Google's July 2022 Product Review Algorithm Update?

Google's primary aim with this algorithm update is to improve the quality of product reviews across the internet. The update will target two types of product reviews:

1. User-generated reviews that can be found on ecommerce platforms and other websites.

2. Google's own product reviews that appear in the "Google Shopping" section of the search engine results pages.

Google has not released many details about how this update will work, but they have said that it will use their standard PageRank algorithm to determine the quality of a product review. This means that reviews with a high PageRank will be given more weight than those with a low PageRank.

Google has also said they will use their "machine learning" algorithms to help them identify which reviews are most useful to users. This means that the algorithms will get better at identifying high-quality reviews over time.

Who Is Affected by Google's July 2022 Product Review Algorithm Update?

The Product Review Algorithm Update will affect all websites that have product reviews. This includes websites that sell products, websites that review products, and websites that aggregate product reviews.

If your website has product reviews, it is important to make sure that those reviews are high-quality and relevant to your products. If your product reviews are low-quality or irrelevant, your website may see a decrease in traffic after the update is released.

6 Strategies For Keeping Pace With Google's July 2022 Algorithm Update

1. Publish High-Quality and In-Depth Product Reviews

Google will prefer product reviews that are in-depth, informative, and high-quality over shorter reviews that lack detail. So, as you write your reviews, make sure to go into detail about the product, its features, and your experience using it.

You should also ensure that your reviews are well-written and free of spelling and grammatical errors. A review that is difficult to read due to poor grammar will likely be less likely to rank well on Google.

2. Optimize Your Product Review Pages for SEO

To help your product review pages rank well in Google, you'll want to optimize them for SEO. This means including relevant keywords throughout your review and in your page's title and meta description.

You should also make sure to optimize your product review images by including keywords in their file names and alt text. Doing so will help Google understand your product review pages and make them more likely to rank well in search results.

3. Structure Your Product Review Pages

The way you structure your product review pages can also impact their ranking in Google. So, when writing your reviews, be sure to use headings and subheadings to break up your content and make it easy to read.

You should also use bullet points to list out key product features. Doing so will make your reviews more scannable and help Google understand what your pages are about.

4. Keep an Eye on Your Competitors

As you’re creating and optimizing your product pages for SEO, it’s important to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing.

In addition to monitoring their organic traffic and rankings, you should also pay attention to their product descriptions and whether they’re using other optimization strategies to rank higher on Google.

If they’re using product schema markup or ranking for a variety of long-tail keywords, make sure to add these strategies to your page optimization efforts.

5. Make Your Reviews as Detailed as Possible

The more detailed your reviews are, the more trustworthy they’ll appear.

But how long should they be?

A recent study by smallbiztrends found that the average word count of a blog post is 1,151 words. But the average word count of a blog post that ranks in the top 10 results of Google is 1,890 words.

While this isn’t a hard and fast rule, you should aim for at least 1,500 words to give your readers a comprehensive overview of the product.

6. Don’t Forget to Add Links to Your Reviews

When you’re writing a review, you should always include links to other pages on your website.

This will help improve your website’s internal linking structure, which can help improve your website’s SEO.

For example, if you’re writing a review for a pair of jeans, you might want to include links to other products on your website, such as t-shirts and shoes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Google's July 2022 algorithm update will have a significant impact on ecommerce SEO. Product reviews will become more important than ever before, and companies will need to invest in getting high-quality reviews from trusted sources. The update will also affect how Google ranks products in search results, so it is important to be aware of the changes and how they might affect your business.

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