Mihai Aperghis (@mihaiaperghis), an Website positioning we reference right here now and again, can be a Google Product Skilled and attended the EMEA Product Consultants Summit just a few weeks in the past. He has written this weblog put up and I’m posting it right here as an excellent uncommon visitor put up on this web site. Why? (1) Mihai rocks and (2) this web site is about group and Product Consultants are the essence of the Google group. I (Barry) personally was unable to attend because of a battle. Word: Mihai didn’t ask for a hyperlink or a point out, however I added this so it’s clear that he wrote this.
Summer season’s going by somewhat quick, however one occasion that is already come and gone has been this yr’s version of Google’s PE Summit for the EMEA area. It happened on June twentieth and twenty first in Zürich, Switzerland, and was hosted at Google’s personal places of work in addition to in a digital format, much like earlier years.
As a fast refresher, the PE program is carefully tied to Google’s Assist Neighborhood boards, the place individuals outdoors Google (non-Googlers, if you’ll) can volunteer their data and expertise to reply no matter points and questions customers have a couple of particular Google product. I have been a PE within the Google Search Central English community for fairly just a few years now, and as such, I’ve had the chance to attend a number of of those invitation-based summits.
Whereas, like most such occasions, this one was not centered on Search, fairly just a few classes had been devoted to Website positioning-related matters, from basic internet search updates and upcoming options to extra particular discussions about Google Purchasing or Google Enterprise Profile. Since a lot of the classes are beneath NDA, I will not have the ability to go into specifics, however I can share some basic takeaways and impressions from the occasion.
The Occasion
The primary day of the summit was primarily for the PEs to get to know one another higher and meet a few of the Googlers, with none classes happening. This was carried out primarily at one of many 25 Hours motels in Zürich, which additionally hosted a lot of the attendees. It included a lunch the place PEs had been capable of mingle and chat with one another, in addition to a day journey to the Google places of work for a tour and a welcome dinner.
It was nice to see some acquainted faces, together with Dave, a fellow Search Central PE and contributor to the SEO community generally, in addition to meet new PEs and Neighborhood Managers from different languages.
The second day was when the precise classes happened. The day began early instantly on the Google places of work, with a breakfast and a welcome session that included some info and updates about this system, in addition to some updates concerning Gemini, YouTube Purchasing, and Google Pixel. After this, the PEs had been assigned to breakout rooms, the place they may attend their most well-liked product classes — 5 in complete all through the day, with a lunch break in between and a closing session on the finish.
The Website positioning-related Periods
It was a really nice shock to have had all 5 classes I attended be Website positioning-related, even when a few of them weren’t a part of the Search Central monitor. These included the next matters, of which I can share just a few basic takeaways:
Search Central: What’s New in Search, offered by John Mueller:
John shared some insights into the most recent updates and adjustments in Search, in addition to addressed some widespread questions concerning varied Website positioning features. Listed here are a few of the key discussions:
- AI Overviews and its continued growth primarily based on consumer suggestions
- Updates to structured information, significantly in e-commerce
- Core and spam updates and their affect
- Balancing the wants of customers and site owners for a wholesome Search ecosystem
Google Enterprise Profiles – Service provider Heart: Model Profile, offered by Ahmed Fathalla
This session centered on the brand new Model Profile function in Google Enterprise Profile, introduced just a few months in the past, which permits companies to create a extra detailed and interesting profile that impacts, amongst different issues, their visibility in branded searches. The session lined:
- The present state of GBP
- Options and advantages of the brand new Model Profile
- The Model Profile’s integration with Google Service provider Heart
- Rollout and future developments
Search Central: Rendering in Search, offered by Martin Splitt
Martin talked about a few of the commonest points and misconceptions concerning Google’s dealing with of JavaScript, in addition to some finest practices to comply with with regard to debugging and optimizing JS-heavy web sites. Listed here are a few of the matters mentioned:
- The significance of the DOM relating to Google’s rendering course of
- The affect of JavaScript rendering on indexing and rating
- The methods and parsers concerned in rendering
- A number of the widespread rendering challenges and how one can deal with them
- Greatest practices and basic recommendation for optimizing JavaScript-based web sites
Search Central: Updates on Purchasing structured information, offered by Matthias Wiesmann
The primary matters mentioned on this session included:
- Cost, transport particulars and certifications structured information
- Tagging AI-generated pictures for merchandise
- The significance of GTIN numbers
- GS1 and Digital Hyperlinks
- Coping with challenges associated to variations in product information
Search Central: Search High quality In the present day, offered by Danny Sullivan
This was purely a Q&A session the place PEs might ask Danny something they needed, and he would reply to the very best of his means. It was an incredible alternative to get some insights into the thought course of behind a few of Google’s choices, in addition to some basic recommendation on how one can strategy sure points. We mentioned matters akin to:
- The worth of the official Google boards and social media channels for sharing info and receiving suggestions
- The inherent challenges behind Core Updates, their affect and the restoration course of
- Content material high quality and helpfulness towards the target market
- The diploma of personalization in search outcomes
- Google’s strategy to spam and high quality management
All the classes had been additionally obtainable stay in a digital format, which allowed PEs who could not attend in particular person (both because of being outdoors the EMEA area or for different causes) to take part and ask questions as effectively.
Closing Ceremony and Afterparty
The closing session featured a recap of the occasion and a ceremony the place some PEs had been acknowledged and awarded for his or her distinctive contributions to this system.
This was adopted by an afterparty again on the resort, with drinks and snacks, stay music, and loads of alternatives to talk and community with everybody.
Closing Ideas
IMHO, the occasion was an incredible success, maybe the most effective summits I’ve attended thus far. Past the high-quality classes and networking alternatives (it is at all times enjoyable to fulfill the individuals behind the discussion board consumer handles and Googlers in particular person), the group was actually top-notch, and the general environment was very welcoming and pleasant.
I am already wanting ahead to subsequent yr’s version, hoping it matches and even surpasses this one. Should you’re a PE and have the possibility to attend one in all these summits, I might extremely suggest it. If that is possibly the primary time you are listening to about this system, I might additionally suggest checking it out and seeing if it is one thing you would be all in favour of becoming a member of, when you have a little bit of free time and want to share your data to assist others.
Here’s a video:
Images on this put up are courtesy of Google’s Product Consultants Program or taken by me in the course of the occasion.
