le updates its February 2023 product reviews //
Google has published the February 2023 product review update. It will take approximately two weeks for it to be fully implemented. This update adds new languages to product reviews updates, including English and Spanish.
This is the sixth product reviews update. It is called the February 2023 product updates update. It was published on February 21st at 5pm ET.
Announcement. This update was announced by Google on Twitter:
Google product reviews update. Google’s product reviews update will promote content that goes beyond the standard templated information found on the internet. Google stated that it will promote product reviews in its search results.
Google does not penalize lower-quality product reviews with “thin content that summarizes a bunch products.” However, if such content is provided and your ranking is affected by other content being promoted, it will feel like a penalty. Google says that this is technically not a penalty for your content. Google rewards sites with better review content and higher rankings than yours.
Technically, the update should only affect product reviews content.
More languages. This version supports more languages than English. This update is now compatible with Spanish, German and French as well as Italian, Vietnamese, Indonesians, Russian, Dutch and Portuguese.
Previous advice regarding the product reviews update. Google stated that the update “focuses overall on providing users with content which provides insight analysis and original research. Content written by experts or passionate about the topic.” This advice is similar to the core update recommendations, but there are additional useful questions that Google suggests you ask in product reviews. Do your product reviews…
- Where appropriate, share your expert knowledge of products
- Show the physical appearance of the product or show how it is used with unique content beyond that provided by the manufacturer.
- Give quantitative measures of how a product performs in different categories.
- What sets your product apart from the rest?
- Discuss similar products and explain which products are best for specific uses.
- Based on your research, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a product.
- How has a product changed from other models or releases in order to make it more user-friendly, fix issues or help them in making a purchase decision.
- Determine the key factors that are important for your product’s category. How does the product perform in these areas? A car review could determine that fuel economy, safety and handling are the key decision-making factors. Then rate performance in these areas.
- Define the key design decisions made for a product and how they affect the users.
- To support your credibility and strengthen your review, provide evidence, such as audio or visuals of your personal experience with the product.
- To give readers the choice to buy from the merchant of their choice, include links to multiple sellers.
Google also linked to a blog post it published earlier in the year, which provides better product information for shoppers.
Google has added three points of advice to the third product reviews update.
- Do product reviews update relevant to comparison reviews and ranked lists? Yes. All review content is subject to product review updates. These best practices are also applicable. You may need to show expertise and strengthen authenticity in a shorter format due to ranked lists. This can be done by citing relevant results and including original images of product tests.
- Do you have any suggestions for reviewing the “best” products? You can recommend a product to be the best overall, or for a specific purpose. Be sure to tell the reader why. What makes the product stand out from other products on the market? What makes the product so well-suited to its intended purpose? Include first-hand evidence to support your claim.
- Should I write reviews that cover multiple products? You can write both a high-quality, ranked list of similar products and single-product reviews for each product. This is a good combination. You should ensure that both the ranked and single-product reviews are well-written.
Previous product review updates. This product review update was the sixth and most recent. It was published on February 21st at 5 PM ET. The first product updates update was published on April 8, 2021. The second was launched December 1, 2021. The third was released March 23, 2022. The fourth was released July 27, 0222. The fifth was released September 20, 2022.
Not a core update. Google previously stated that product reviews updates are different from core updates. This update is called the product reviews update. According to Google, this update is not part of its regular core updates. Google told us that still included the advice it provided for core updates. However, this advice was not applicable to this update.
Why we care. You should check your Google rankings if your website contains product reviews. Is your Google organic traffic increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?
You will want to make sure that your product reviews are unique and stand out from other sites in the long-term.
This February 2023 product review update may also be beneficial for those who were affected by core updates in the past.
The post Google releases February 20,23 product reviews update was first published on Search Engine Land.