Last Thursday, September 25th, our team had the amazing opportunity to attend Search Central Live Mexico and hear directly from Google's experts about the present and future of search. The event was packed with insights, from technical SEO best practices to the massive impact of AI on how users find information. Here’s a breakdown of what we learned.
The Heart of a Healthy Website: UX and Evolving Content
Paul Haahr, a distinguished engineer at Google, kicked things off by emphasizing that the core measure of a website's health is its user experience (UX) and engagement. User demand is shifting towards richer multimedia content like forums, podcasts, and publications.
A key statistic he shared is that 15% of all daily searches are brand new, which underscores the need to create relevant, helpful content that meets users where they are. Interestingly, Haahr confirmed that Google’s systems do not distinguish between AI-generated and human-generated content; the focus remains on quality and user value.
Technical SEO Foundations: How Google Search Works
Google's Martin Splitt delivered a fantastic refresher on the fundamentals of how Google crawls and indexes the web.
Crawling and Indexing: It’s a two-step process. First Google crawls, then it indexes.
Crawl Budget: Don't overthink it. Splitt noted that if your site has fewer than 1 million pages, crawl budget is likely not an urgent concern.
Site Architecture: Clear navigation and internal linking are critical. A simple but powerful rule of thumb is to ensure any important page can be reached within three clicks from the homepage.
Efficiency: Use your robots.txt file to block unnecessary URLs and parameters from being crawled. This helps Google focus on your most important content.
"Crawled - currently not indexed": If you see this status in Search Console, it's a signal to improve your content quality. Google often de-indexes pages that don't receive clicks or engagement to make way for more useful results.
The Future of Search is AI-Powered
A major theme of the event was the integration of Artificial Intelligence into every facet of the search experience. Here are the key developments to watch:
AI Overview: This is the current experience where Google uses AI to retrieve information from websites and present summarized answers directly on the results page. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) signals are crucial for being featured.
AI Mode: A new, more immersive feature is coming that will allow for fully AI-driven searches using a combination of images, text, and voice.
Multimodality: Search is becoming more visual and interactive. Features like Circle to Search and real-time searching with Google Lens are changing how users interact with the world around them.
Personalization Features:
Preferred Sources: Currently rolling out in the US and India, this allows users to customize their search experience by prioritizing sources they trust.
Web Guide: This feature uses AI to organize search results based on a user's preferences, demographics, and past behavior, creating a tailored discovery experience.
Creator Profiles in Discover: Google is working to highlight individual content creators within the Discover feed, allowing brands and users to find influential voices based on niche and audience engagement.
Storytelling and Strategy with Google Trends
Daniel Waisberg introduced the exciting new Google Trends API (currently in alpha), which will allow for more powerful and integrated analysis of search data by vertical or interest.
Building on this, Keila Guimaraes demonstrated how to use trend data for powerful storytelling. By using timelines, geographic comparisons, related questions, and advanced filters, analysts can uncover specific data to inform content strategy, market research, and competitive analysis.
Unlocking Potential with Search Console
Finally, Itai Raz discussed how Google Search Console is evolving to help creators and SEOs keep up with content changes. The platform is continuously adding tools to help you find and understand performance highlights. A particularly interesting upcoming feature is the ability for users to add timeline comments directly in Search Console, which could be a game-changer for tracking the impact of site updates and algorithm changes.
Let's Navigate the Future Together
The message from Search Central Live was clear: the web is evolving faster than ever. AI is reshaping how users find information, and a commitment to high-quality content and a great user experience is non-negotiable. Keeping up with these changes is essential for growth.
Feeling overwhelmed? You don't have to do it alone. Contact us at Mira Commerce to learn how our experts can help you adapt to the changing web and keep up with the new search trends that matter most to your business.
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