Google April 2023 Reviews Update
Google released its April 2023 review update on the 12th of April. “This now includes reviews about services and products”. Google explains how its new Google product review update system works in a post under the New section of Search Central. Reviews can cover a specific topic or be lists of suggestions. The reviews can cover any subject. The Google product review update was designed to evaluate content that is created by a single party and provides recommendations, opinions, or analyses.
The Google April update system does not consider third-party reviews such as those found in the reviews section on a product page or service page. The product reviews update system evaluates content primarily on a page level, but it may also do a site-wide evaluation if you have a large amount of content (not a single-digit percentage). The Google product review update is currently available in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Russian, Dutch, Indonesian, and Polish. If you have reviews in these languages uploaded on your website then it will affect your website.
The Google April update system is designed to evaluate first-party content such as articles, blogs, pages, or other standalone content that has been written to give a recommendation, an opinion, or an analysis. The product reviews update system does not consider third-party reviews such as those left by users on a product page or service page. Reviews can cover a single topic, head-to-head competitions, or ranked lists. Reviews can cover any topic and reviews can be about any topic.
Focus On Experience
Google’s new Product Reviews update documentation heavily leans on E.E.A.T. This is what Google calls the double-E.E.A.T quality content paradigm, which was formally introduced by Google in December 2022. Double-E is the new content quality level that replaces E-A (Expertise Authoritativeness Trustworthiness).
The E-A-T acronym stands for Experience. Google April update System is looking for evidence of Experience. According to anecdotal reports, adding phrases like “in my opinion” or “my analysis” to product reviews can increase the ranking of those pages in SERPs.
The new documentation, regardless of whether these reports are accurate or just coincidences on a piece of paper, makes it clear that the standard to demonstrate experience is much higher than words on a sheet. Google April 2023 reviews update documentation encourages publishers and authors to show evidence of their experience.
How To Write High-Quality Reviews? Google’s Guidance
After Google April update 2023, Google has updated the page that guides writing high-quality review content. The company says that high-quality reviews can assist people in making informed decisions about products and services, destinations, video games, movies, or other topics.
This page contains a 14-point guide to best practices, which is explained below:
- Consider the user’s point of view when evaluating.
- Show that you know what you’re reviewing.
- To support your expertise, and to reinforce your review’s authenticity, provide evidence, such as audio or video clips, of your personal experience.
- Share quantitative measures of how something compares to other categories.
- What makes a product different from its competitors?
- Explain what you would consider similar or which is best in certain situations or uses.
- Based on your original research, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of something.
- Describe the evolution of a product from its previous versions or releases. This can be done to address problems, provide improvements or help users make a purchasing decision.
- Concentrate on the factors that are most important to you, based on what you know or your expertise. For example, in a car review, fuel economy and safety might be rated as key factors.
- Describe the key design choices and how they affect the user beyond what is stated by the manufacturer.
- Include links to useful resources, whether your own or those from other sites, to assist the reader in making a decision.
- Include links to different sellers so that the reader can choose the merchant they want to buy from.
- If you are recommending something that is the best in general or for a specific purpose, be sure to include the reasons why it’s the best. Include first-hand evidence.
- Make sure your ranked list has enough content to be able to stand alone, even if it is accompanied by separate reviews.
Affect On SEO Professionals
Glenn Gabe is an SEO consultant at G-Squared Interactive. He believes that the evolution of the Google product review update into the reviews could indicate that Google’s core algorithm ranking will be incorporating it soon. Marketers will need to monitor this Google April 2023 reviews update closely to see how it affects the results of their managed sites.
Check if the organic traffic on your site improves or decreases after the Google April update 2023. This is particularly true for sites that have English, Spanish, or German as well as French, Italian, Vietnamese, and Indonesian. It also applies to Russian, Dutch, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Dutch, and Polish. If you have any reviews in these languages (regardless if they are from a country), then the Google product review update may affect them.
Signals Of Product Reviews Experience
Visual Evidence
In this Google April 2023 reviews update, Google asks for visual evidence of reviewing the product. This means that you should take photos of the item being reviewed. Original photos are preferred over stock images.
Quantitative Measurements
Quantitative is the measurement of a number. It is a good idea to measure the performance of a product. After the Google April update 2023, now if you add quantitative measurements in your reviews it will increase the chances of getting rank in the Google search engine.
Audio-Visual Experience
Google did not provide any examples of audio or visual experiences in the documentation, but it is easy to imagine the contexts in which they would be appropriate. It may not apply to all reviews, but for some, it might be, if the visual and audio experience of a product is important. For example, demonstrating how loud or quiet a particular product can be.