Google is just not into you

Google Search has changed.

It's a lot pickier.

Here is how to adapt.

Sort of.

• The change is real and affects many websites. Google snubs this blog, for instance.
• Not every one of your pages needs to be indexed by search engines, however.
• In theory, the things that can win Google back are the kinds of outreach you should be doing anyway.

Incidentally,

• People increasingly rate Google Search as less useful. Hm, why is that, do you suppose?

Helpful content

Google Search is constantly changing.

It is locked in a never-ending struggle with websites seeking to manipulate Search into showing low-quality stuff.

But things seem to have taken a real turn lately, starting with the 2022 Helpful Content Update.

This tweak to Search sought, according to Google,

to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.

Sounds good, right? Like, maybe your original, helpful little blog will get the love it deserves?

Barriers to entry

Alas, the overall thrust seems to be that Google is a lot more picky about what it includes in Search.

There are more barriers to entry into Google, and guess who lacks the time, money, or expertise to navigate the way in?

We little guys. That's who.

Google has deployed other updates since, with different effects.

However, the overall thrust seems to be that Google wants to be not only a cataloger of what is on the Internet, but a curator as well.

Unindexed pages

Because of its blog structure, most pages on Blogger are duplicates and should not be indexed.

You should not freak out about that.

But beside that, consider the posts on your blog objectively. Chances are at least some of them are out of date.

Others may be genuinely useful in context, but not something that people would look for.

For instance, my 2021 critique of the Blogger user interface (which had just been introduced) is still salient (don't you think?).

Still, I can't imagine the search terms that would both (a) find that page and (b) likely ever be entered into Google by a real person

I might want that critique to be in Search, as a stroke to my ego, but I hardly need it to be.

Blog readership does not suffer because this page is missing from Google's index.

(Oddly, part 2 of the critique is indexed, though I doubt I get any traffic from it.)

Be honest

Surely you have pages like that one on your site: relevant and well-written, sure, but just not things that people would use Search to discover.

Instead, you can make those pages findable to your readers though internal links, labels, and sidebar widgets.

What your blog actually needs and benefits from is indexing of pages that people would actually search for.

Tough love

Back to the change at Google. I think Google has taken a turn that is bad for bloggers, bad for the internet, and bad for the world.

Maybe you agree. But in the words of the song, if it's snowing in Brooklyn, I'd say snow's what you've got. What are you going to do about it?

If your blog would not exist with Google Search, then my advice is simple. Stop blogging.

For the rest of us, it is time to turn (or return) to the kind of organic outreach that does not need Google.

Beyond Google (and back?)

That includes sharing on social media and curation of other blogs, some of which might return the favor. 

That could steer readers your way and give you a meaningful organic backlink.

These steps are the small-blogger answer to big-site marketing campaigns.

They are worth taking for their own sake.

But a side effect could be (and it can take a long time) that Google will take note of backlinks, revisit your blog, and decide you really are their cup of tea after all.

Thanks

I am grateful to some of the non-Google volunteers who hang out in the Search Central help community. 

Their insights helped to clarify some things over which I had been brooding for some time.

My conclusions here go far beyond their thoughtful observations, and any errors are entirely my own.

Lead photo: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels