Google's SEO Starter Guide Upcoming Updates: Key Changes and Their Impact

Google's Search Relations team recently discussed upcoming changes to Google's SEO Starter Guide. The team, which consists of John Muller, Lizzie Harvey and Gary Illies, notes that the guide currently has a 91% user satisfaction rating. However, they believe it needs an overhaul to remove outdated advice and better serve its primary audience of beginners.

"Using headings and a good title element and having paragraphs, yes, of course. That's all great. But beyond that, thinking about how a page is structured... or how HTML is structured is pretty useless," Illies noted, debunking common misconceptions in the SEO community.

🚀 When we talk about HTML structure and its impact on search engine rankings, it's important to understand that the appropriate use of HTML elements such as headings can benefit rankings. However, it does not affect him as much as some might think. Basically, working on HTML structure is not an important SEO factor.

• 📌 When it comes to domain names, the Google team tends to prioritize branding over keyword inclusion when choosing a domain name.
• 📌 Regarding meta tags as meta keywords, the team decided not to include this topic in the updated SEO Starter Guide in order not to cause unnecessary worry for site owners.
• 📌 One of the important points of discussion was how the team can correct common misconceptions about SEO, namely the idea that using Google products improves search engine rankings.