This year, probably the hottest topic in the SEO world was the Google Warehouse API leaks. Accidentally published on Github and so far at least generally regarded as genuine, they provide us with documentation on 2,500 modules with just over 14,000 attributes.
These leaks give us deep insights into the data that Google collects and how it can be used to prioritize search results.
But what does this information actually mean for your SEO strategy? How can you use these insights to optimize your website even better and improve your ranking?
I have prepared the most important insights for you.
Backlinks: Still extremely important
Backlinks are still a central component of any successful SEO strategy. The Google Content Warehouse API leaks confirm the continued importance of backlinks for website rankings. Here are the most important reasons why you should continue to rely on backlinks:
siteAuthority is real
The siteAuthority shows that the domain of a website plays an important role in the ranking. This concept is comparable to the well-known Domain Authority. Websites with many high-quality backlinks build up a strong siteAuthority, which increases their chances of ranking well in the search results.
Indexing Tier influences the value of a link
Google stores content in different storages based on its importance. Important content is stored in faster drives, while less important content is stored on slower drives.
This influences the value of a link considerably. Links from pages that are stored in the faster stores have more weight and can have a greater influence on the ranking of your page. You should therefore pay particular attention to the quality of the linking pages when link building.
“Fresh” content is considered to be of higher quality
Fresh content is often considered to be of higher quality by Google. Websites that regularly publish new and relevant content have a better chance of appearing in the search results.
This could also provide us with conclusions for link building. Obtaining links from pages that are regularly updated should therefore become an integral part of the link building strategy. News pages are particularly valuable in this respect, as they offer constantly updated content and thus increase the freshness factor.
Focus on high-quality pages
When link building, you should continue to focus on high-quality sites. Links from trustworthy and authoritative sites have a greater impact on your ranking.
In particular, sites that are recognized as experts in their field can strengthen your E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). High-quality backlinks signal to Google that your site is trustworthy and relevant.
Links as a decisive factor for E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, and links play a central role in the evaluation of these criteria. High-quality backlinks from trustworthy sources contribute significantly to the perception of your site as an expert source. They help Google to recognize your site as a trustworthy and authoritative source of information.
The sandbox: it really exists
In the Google Warehouse API leaks, the attribute hostAge appears, which is explicitly used to recognize and combat “sandbox fresh spam in serving time”.
This confirms that there is definitely a sandbox, which experience has shown to last around six months. New websites go through a kind of “trial period” before they appear high in the search results.
This is not really surprising, but it confirms what we have observed in the past.
Domain age generally plays a role for SEO
The leaks clearly show that domain age is a key factor for ranking. Google attaches importance to the age of a domain, as older domains are often seen as more trustworthy and established.
Websites with a longer history tend to have more authority and are therefore more trusted by Google.
Click Signals & Navboost
Google uses a technology called Navboost, which analyses click data to prioritize relevant search results. Data from the last 13 months is used to recognize patterns and use them for the ranking.
The click-through rate (CTR) plays a decisive role here. So optimize your meta tags and build up your brand to increase the click-through rate. However, you must then also fulfill the user intention!
Good clicks, i.e. those that lead to a positive user experience, are worth their weight in gold. On the other hand, there are probably also bad clicks, so clickbait does not seem to be a good long-term strategy.
Google processes user data from the Chrome browser
We’ve all suspected this too. Now it’s official: Google uses data from Chrome users to evaluate the popularity and relevance of websites. High engagement rates from Chrome users will most likely have a very positive impact on the ranking.
Most important metrics:
– TopUrl: Uses click data from Chrome to identify the most important pages on a website. These pages are highlighted for sitelinks in the search results.
Authors are an explicit feature
The leaks show that Google explicitly stores the authors of a document. Even if the use of author markup is not yet widespread, it is taken into account by Google.
It is therefore obvious that the author serves as a quality indicator, especially for news, Your Money Your Life (YMYL) and scientific content.
By clearly identifying and linking to your authors, YOU can increase the credibility and relevance of your content, which in turn leads to better rankings.
Make sure that the authors of your website are clearly named and their expertise is emphasized to benefit from this factor.
Algorithmic downgrades (demotions)
The Google Warehouse API leaks make it clear that various algorithmic demotions can be applied. These include:
- Anchor mismatch: If the anchor text does not match the content of the linked page, this can lead to a downgrade.
- SERP Demotion: Websites can be downgraded in the search results if they do not fulfill certain quality criteria.
- Navigation Demotion: Poor navigation structures or confusing menus can also lead to a downgrade.
- Product review demotion: Unreliable or fake product reviews can have a negative impact on the ranking.
These types of demotions are also not surprising, but they emphasize the importance of high-quality content and a user-friendly website structure.
Make sure your website is clearly structured, uses relevant anchor texts and contains trustworthy reviews to avoid these downgrades and improve your ranking.
Link spam detection: be careful with link building
Spam is a major problem on the internet and Google has developed a variety of techniques to counteract it. One of the methods Google uses is to detect link spam based on rapid spike patterns.
This means that Google monitors unnaturally rapid increases in inbound links and flags such activity as potential spam. While this technique is not new, the leaks confirm that Google is still actively working to improve and refine its spam detection.
For SEOs, this means that you should be careful when implementing link building strategies. An organic and natural increase in links is much safer and more sustainable than sudden, massive link campaigns that could be considered suspicious by Google.
Google saves the last 20 changes to a URL
Another interesting aspect that emerges from the leaks is the way in which Google tracks changes to websites. Google saves all changes to a page, but only uses the last 20 changes for link analysis.
This means that frequent updates to a page are recorded, but only the most recent modifications actually have an influence on the ranking.
Implications for your SEO strategy:
1. quality over quantity: Instead of constantly updating a page, YOU should make sure that every change is well thought out and of high quality. 2. avoid misleading redirects: Redirecting old pages to irrelevant destinations provides no benefit and can even be harmful. Google takes into account the relevance and quality of the target pages.
Homepage PageRank: Foundation for new pages
The leaks also show that the PageRank of a website’s homepage has a significant influence on new pages. Every new page starts with the PageRank of its homepage until it has built up enough authority of its own.
In addition, Google rates links based on the trustworthiness of the homepage from which they originate.
SEO tips:
1. focus on high-quality links: It is crucial to get links from trustworthy and authoritative homepages, as these carry more weight in the rankings.
2. Strength of your homepage: A strong and trustworthy homepage can make it easier and faster to build new pages.
Font size and highlighting of links
A seemingly outdated but still relevant point is the font size and emphasis of links. Google tracks the font size of terms and links, which means that highlighting important terms can potentially help to emphasize their importance to the user.
Although this needs to be tested, it suggests that visual hierarchies and text formatting should not be neglected in on-page optimization.
Page Titles: Indispensable keywords
The leaks once again confirm the importance of keywords in page titles. The so-called titlematchScore shows that keywords in the title still have a decisive influence on the ranking. Interestingly, there is no fixed maximum number of characters for meta titles.
This opens up the possibility of using longer titles that can contain more keywords, but this must be balanced with the click-through rate (CTR).
Tips:
1. detailed titles: Use longer titles to accommodate relevant keywords, but make sure they are still engaging and click-worthy. 2. Optimize CTR: A well-worded title should be both informative and attractive to maximize click-through rate.
siteFocusScore: Relevance and topic focus
Google also evaluates how close a page stays to its core topic and to what extent it also covers other relevant topics. The siteFocusScore shows that a clear focus on a core topic is rated positively, while the inclusion of related topics can further increase relevance.
Recommendations:
1. maintain core topic: Keep your website focused on one main topic to be perceived as a relevant authority. 2. Include related topics: Also cover related topics to increase the relevance of your site and provide a more comprehensive picture.
What does the SEO strategy of the future look like?
The Google Warehouse API leaks provide valuable insights into Google’s ranking mechanisms and confirm many existing SEO practices.
Backlinks remain crucial for the ranking, with the focus on the quality and topicality of the linking pages. Click signals and high engagement rates from Chrome users are decisive factors for the ranking. The clear identification of authors and the strengthening of E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) are particularly important for YMYL content.
All in all, you should:
- Build strong backlinks
- Concentrate on the topic of UX
- Continue to deliver great content
- Work on building your brand