SEO UPdate #18 | 29/03/2022

We have arrived at the eighteenth SEO Update. It is March 28, the sun is shining and, as usual, much has happened in the land of SEO specialists. In particular, we are focusing on the March 2022 SEO product review update. Let’s get right to work.

SEO product review update from March 2022

Please note that this is not a core update.

Google is launching a product review update in March 2022. The update is now rolling out and is the third version of already three updates dealing with the same topic. The first took place in April 2021, the second in December 2021 and the third now (March 2022). Right now the update only hits English-language pages, so not NL yet.

Some general details about this update are listed below. I also share the common denominators that can be picked up to conform your website to the update.

Name → Google March 2022 Product Reviews Update

When → Now (March 28, 2022).

Duration → 3 weeks until fully rolled out.

Who will be affected? → Currently, only English-language websites are affected, but this may be expanded if the results of the update are good.

Is it a core update? → No, he did get confirmed by Google.

Update of the update → Google will change the exact content of this update periodically, so this may still be updated in the future.

Google about the update

Google indicates that this is an additional update to make product reviews as accurate as possible. This is because Google wants to give the best possible product advice to searchers in the SERP.

I see in practice that there are many pages that get started with very low quality content and just put some affiliate links to bol com. Google plans to phase this out and put only high-quality websites in the SERP. You also see, for example, updates around E-A-T that demonstrate this.

See this link for guidelines on how to set up a product review on your website.

Some advice points that were specifically tightened during this update

A number of points were tightened during this update. See the list below.

Show with visuals that you have actually tested the product. Incorporate photos of the test you did with the product, which is the easiest way to show that you actually bought the product.

Are the products ranked by certain qualities of the products? One way to do this is to make a list or table that includes a number for each quality of the product.

Make it clear in what ways the product is different from other products in the market.

The classification below is an interesting way to both go in depth with certain products and give an overview of the different products in the market.

One overview page listing all products.

Multiple “product” pages displaying the products themselves. You can click through on the overview page by product to the pages where you can go more in-depth by product. See the image below for an example.

5. It is a positive factor to include a link to a page that lists the pros and cons (possibly described by the manufacturer). You can also link to others’ experiences with the product for this.
6. It is appreciated by Google if you post unique information on the product review page which is not shared by the manufacturer itself.
7. In addition, it is positive if you shine light on different products that are slightly different but are in the same category.

Was the spring update (which I also named in this update) the same as this update (or part of it)? Danny Sullivan of Google says not. Google’s Alan Kent also confirms this (see screenshot).

Official (general) advice from Google on product reviews

Point by point the components recommended by Google around writing product reviews.

• Show your expert knowledge around the topic where possible.
• Show with unique content how the product can be used and what the product looks like in real life.
• Show with quantitative data how a product performs relative to its surroundings or other products in the same category.
• Explain what differentiates a product.
• Also describe products relevant to this product (perhaps the products just outside the category of this product).
• Also explain the disadvantages of a product, in your own words (and ideally described from your own experience).
• Show the key components of the product for consumer decision making and how the product performs in these areas.
• Describe the choices made while designing the products and how they could possibly influence the consumer’s decision.
• Important: show proof that you purchased the product in the form of photos and/or videos.

Closing

That was it again! A long review of a product review update. 🙂 I hope you got a lot out of it and can use it to improve the findability of your own reviews.