Google has been on the ball with their updates and refinements since the start of 2019. The past week saw yet another Google Search Update that aims to sort some basic issues. There will now be more diverse search results available from different domain names. Domain diversity is the direct target with this newest Google update and it looks great for informational websites and pages.

Google, on their official Twitter account announced that there is a new update available that will make search results show much diverse results from different domains. Digging deep into this, you can understand the focus is to include more results from more domains rather than showing up many results from a single domain in search results. No more than two results from the same domain name are intended to be shown in any given search result.

Focus on Diverse Search Results

In the past, Google searches had been notorious for showing up search results from a same domain name number of times in the first search page. When users put up a query in Google, often a single domain accounted for a large portion of search results. This has been rectified to some extent in previous updates as well.

With more SEOs complaining about their websites not showing in search results due to this, Google has finally taken more drastic steps towards the matter. Google showed too many listings from top search results that were from the same domain. The number previously was around 4 to 5 search results from a single domain. Now, there will only be 2 results from a same domain name against any given search query.

According to a Google statement, “A new change now launching in Google Search is designed to provide more site diversity in our results.” This makes it clear that we will not see more than two listings from a single domain for any search query.

This Might Not Always be True

According to Google, they do reserve the right to show any number of search results from a single domain when relevancy is in question. Yet, this update will focus on showing just two results from any given domain. But this might not apply when Google’s systems determine more than two results from a same domain to be more relevant than any others.

This can be more related to branded queries. When searching for a brand like Amazon or Walmart for example, you still might see more than two results from that same domain which would naturally be Amazon.com or Walmart.com.

Sub-Domains Will be Treated Similarly

Other cases of many search results being from one domain were related to there being sub-domains that had relevant information for any given query. With this new update, Google will treat all sub-domains similarly as well and as a part of the main domain. Site diversity will apply in cases like this one as well and you will see only two results from any main domain regardless of how many sub-domains it might have with relevant information.

Listings from subdomains and the major root domain will be considered a single search result. Google can also treat some subdomains differently of course. These can be treated as separate sites and pages when calculating their relevancy to search terms and queries.

This Effect is Only on Core Results

Another interesting thing to note here is that this update is more likely to affect only core search results. Additional search features including video snippets, top stories, image carousels or other vertical search features will most probably not get affected by this at all and you will see them as you do right now.

This is about the main listings and not many other displays on search results. Danny Sullivan of Google acknowledged this in his tweet:

Not Related to the Google Core Update

This update is not actually related to the Google Core Update that began rolling out on Monday 3rd of June. This site diversity feature is finally kept separate from the core update by Google. According to the search giants, these are two separately released unconnected updates.

This site diversity feature also starting rolling out days after the core Google updated saw light of day. If you are an SEO or a site manager, your analytics and Search Console data could undergo an impact by both of these, i.e. the core June 2019 update and also this site diversity feature. According to Danny Sullivan, these two are so far apart in terms of their applications that you should be able to easily tell which one is affecting you.

Not an Actual Update According to Google

In fact, Google has refrained calling this a major update at all. According to them, this will not affect most sites much at all. Danny Sullivan further noted that he doesn’t think of this as an actual update. Sites and pages that ranked well before should still rank as high. There would only not be as many results from a single domain against any search query as there used to be. It will change how some URLs are shown in search results no matter what you want to call it.

There is Still Room for Improvement

In the perfect scenario after this feature update, you should simply not see more than 2 results listed from a single domain in any search result. However, this will probably not be the case. Again, Danny Sullivan highlighted it to not be perfect as and that they are working on it and will continue to polish it until it becomes best. Here, a professional from the industry found an example of this to which Danny responded:

History of Site Diversity in Google

In the past, there have been many updates from Google regarding their site diversity feature. 2010 saw the launching of a change to Google’s ranking algorithms that made it easier for users to find results from a relevant single site. This was the year more results got shown from a single site but in 2012, things shifted towards site diversity again in search results. In 2013, Google again said that there would be fewer results shown in any search from a single domain name. The search giant has been attempting to make it right and this new feature update is another step from them in the right direction.

How It Matters?

If you had a website that had many subdomains that all ranked for similar search queries, you will now be restricted to 2 search results from your website. Brands and company name searches would still see the same search results. You would definitely want to track how it affects you and find the best alternatives if your site gets hit most.

Are you looking for latest SEO Services for your business website? www.seo.com.pk is a name you can trust. We offer a wide range of optimization and Digital Marketing services that can get your website the exact number of visits you need. Our services also help expand your business beyond conventional boundaries. Call now and find out how we can help your website stand out in the competition in any target market that it exists in.