Summer is just about here and you know what that means: warmer temperatures, longer days (depending where you live), and a new core update from Google? Yes, the search giant started rolling out the May 2022 core update as we were putting this roundup together. But that’s not all the news for this month!
Keep reading to learn more about yet another update, a nagging issue with Google Analytics 4, and why we all need to take TikTok more seriously. We also have a special bit of content marketing news this month. While we won’t have regular stories from this channel, keep an eye out for them.
SEO stories
Did Google roll out a Mother’s Day weekend update?
If you noticed a lot of search volatility over the weekend of May 6-8, you weren’t alone. According to Barry Schwartz’s reporting at Search Engine Roundtable, numerous folks in the SEO community witnessed traffic spikes during what those of us in the States refer to as Mother’s Day weekend. You can read more about the volatility at SER, including an unconfirmed May 1 update that brought its own volatility.
Google also rolls out core update
As of May 25, Google officially began to roll out a core update for its search engine. Known as the May 2022 core update, it’s set to complete within one to two weeks. According to Google, the goals of this one are the same as any previous update: “to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web.” The search giant also said “there's nothing in a core update that targets specific pages or sites,” which refers to the fact some sites will see performance changes as a result. We’ll be sure to keep you posted once the update concludes.
We also want to give a shout out to our free tool Ayima Pulse, which allows you to see the impact of big and small updates alike across various industries.
Paid media stories
Google announces streamlined buying journey
As part of Google Marketing Live 2022, the search giant announced plans to streamline the buying journey from a multi-step process to a single checkout flow. As noted by our Head of Paid Media, Lucy Whittaker, this sounds like a promising change that should reduce friction, improve conversion rates, and expand remarketing opportunities. You can learn more about this and other announcements in Google’s blog post.
Data highlights increasing need to include TikTok in strategy
There is an ever-increasing need for digital marketers to include TikTok in their strategies if they want to reach a crucial engaged audience. That’s according to the latest stats from eMarketer, which found that the social media platform surpassed YouTube in the U.S. and will likely topple other apps in the near future. To say you should consider adding TikTok to your marketing strategy is a massive understatement. Head over to eMarketer for more info about how this platform is dominating right now.
Digital analytics stories
Google Analytics 4 doesn’t support AMP Pages
If you use Google AMP on your client’s website or your own, you may be surprised to learn Google Analytics 4 doesn’t support AMP. And the bad news is we don’t really know if GA4 will ever support AMP according to a tweet from Google’s own Krista Seiden. There is some good news, though, and it’s that David Vallejo put together a comprehensive guide for how to manually track AMP through GA4. Be forewarned: it’s pretty technical and complicated.
Content marketing news
New research shows shifting demand gen priorities
Following an extensive survey of various organizations, the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) found that there’s a shifting approach to how marketers approach demand generation. While marketers are still primarily concerned with the top of the funnel (awareness), more teams are now focusing on making it easier for customers to make a purchase. There are some other intriguing bits, too, such as a huge increase in the importance of content marketing and a 13+ percent increase in account-based marketing. For the full rundown, you can read CMI’s guide.
Ayima news
While we don’t have any internal news to share, we do have a new Insights article that aims to help you better understand a topic that isn’t as intimidating as it may seem.
Ayima Insights articles
- How to improve time to first byte (TTFB): SEO Director Jules Allen and I (Andrew Martin, Content Director) collaborated on this piece that both explains the importance of TTFB and how to fix it on your (or your client’s) site.
