2021 SEO Year in Review — Jordan Koene // Searchmetrics

SEO Strategist at Searchmetrics, Jordan Koene, looks back at 2021. This was a year filled with a variety of changes from Google. From an algorithm update on the cusp of the holiday season to a shift in SERPs, Google’s been busy. 2021 was also a year filled with SEO learning opportunities. Today, Jordan gives us a 2021 SEO year in review.
About the speaker

Jordan Koene

Searchmetrics

- Searchmetrics

Jordan is SEO Strategist at Searchmetrics

Show Notes

  • 01:45
    Google and MUM
    MUM impacted SEO and search overall while speeding up the evolution of the SERP.
  • 02:56
    Googles communication with the SEO community
    Google was more forthcoming with the community about upcoming updates. And they were willing to provide more information than in previous years.
  • 05:10
    Core Web Vitals in 2021
    Core web vitals did not cause much disturbance to sites that paid attention to quality, specifically, the quality of their mobile sites.
  • 07:03
    Mobile
    Google delayed mobile-first indexing. They cant leverage mobile indexing and crawling as a primary source of information for understanding user behavior just yet.
  • 08:46
    How search has changed in 2021
    Google is evolving the SERP requirements. More important than the SERP ranking position, is the prioritization of different elements on your page.
  • 10:23
    Biggest 2021 takeaway
    Google prompted SEOs to develop a great web experience for users. But they made several errors along the way. And this goes to show that Google is also learning.

Quotes

  • "MUM predicated many of the algorithm updates that transpired this year. It shifted the speed and velocity at which Google is evolving their SERP." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "MUM is changing the game of SEO and search in a big way." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "This year we saw a lot of activity from John, Danny, and other folks across the organization in terms of updates, how search is changing, and how the SERPs will evolve." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "Core web vitals changes have not necessarily matriculated into some monumental shift unless you haven't paid any attention to the quality of your mobile site." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "Google is finding bite-size nuggets to keep making changes to the algorithm around core web vitals while still trying to help people better understand what they mean." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "Google switched a significant portion of sites to mobile-first index. Then, in March of 2021, they said that they were delaying mobile-first indexing." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "You cannot manage expectations of ranking factors by just looking at mobile data." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "Google is prioritizing different elements in the SERP than rank position and placement of your page. It may be a video, an FAQ, or a quote. This is the new version of Google." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "A lot of SEOs believe that everything Google says is doctrine, and it's no. We as SEOs need to be mindful of what it is we're crafting and developing on our website." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

  • "I think by Google using the word webmaster, it means more than being an SEO. It means understanding how to develop, build, and execute on a great web experience." -Jordan Koene, SEO Strategist, Searchmetrics

About the speaker

Jordan Koene

Searchmetrics

- Searchmetrics

Jordan is SEO Strategist at Searchmetrics

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