A stronger emphasis on content – Google scraps search thumbnails

Google has implemented some changes in its algorithm that may make you work a lot harder for your traffic. Your headings and search result content will have to be super catchy if you want them to be clicked on.

Where visual stimulation used to be a means to generate clicks, many of these thumbnails that used to pop up beside search results have now fallen away, or are decreasing. This is something we need to take note of.

Video thumbnails

If you Googled the name of something that was strongly associated with a video of that term, chances are a video would appear beside the search result—enticing your audience to click on it. However, this has now been severely reduced.

 If you have a YouTube channel, and have paired your videos with your content, you may want to concentrate more on the content than relying on the video to heighten your search-ability.

Authorship profile picture

Google has now completely done away with the much-sought-after author thumbnail that used to pop up next to the writer’s respective articles.

Although this was a big winner in drawing in clicks, Google would prefer your content is the element that catches the attention of your reader.

What’s the next step in visual stimulation via search?

So what does this mean for the future of your search optimizations?

With Google’s new updates, it’s important to focus on content rather that methods of highlighting that content.

Yes, content has always been important, but it is becoming more and more clear that Google intends of content to become even more of an imperative in online marketing—both now, and in the future.