SEO in 2019 – What Has Changed And What We Should Focus on in 2020?
By Insightland · Published 20 Dec 2019 · Retrospective added November 2026 · 5 min read Editor’s note (2026): This article summarises SEO in 2019 and is kept as part of our blog’s history. Some predictions didn’t come true: voice search never became the main direction of search; AI answers did. For up-to-date information, see […]
Editor’s note (2026): This article summarises SEO in 2019 and is kept as part of our blog’s history. Some predictions didn’t come true: voice search never became the main direction of search; AI answers did. For up-to-date information, see Google core updates: timeline and what to do.
The year is almost over, so it’s time for a sum-up. And there’s quite a lot to summarize, as a lot has happened in the SEO industry in 2019. Google released 3 core updates and introduced many other updates that head towards voice search development.
Let’s remind ourselves of all the changes in the SEO industry in 2019, so that we know what to focus on in 2020 and what actions to perform in the upcoming year.
Which core updates did Google release in 2019?
Google introduced many updates in 2019, but 3 of them are called ‘core algorithm updates’, which means that their impact on the rankings was significant.
Let your customers find you, wherever they look.
March 2019 Core Update
The first core update in 2019 took place between the 12th and 15th of March. Google confirmed that it had rolled out a significant update with a worldwide impact. It became known as “Florida 2” within the SEO community because it coincided with the Pubcon SEO conference, just like the first Florida update released in November 2003. Despite this similarity, the algorithm updates aren’t related. The latest one is officially known as the March 2019 Core Update.
Google did not rule out changes to the core algorithm that affect backlinks. And as many SEO experts speculate, you can improve search rankings by following the E-A-T principle (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness; since 2022 E-E-A-T, with experience added). Discussions within the SEO community indicated that sites with strong E-A-T signals were affected more, with many seeing recoveries. It’s possible that Google changed the way it treats backlinks.
June 2019 Core Update
This update took place on the 3rd of June and was confirmed by Google immediately. Although Google admitted that this update was nothing special or particularly “big”, the SEO community started to speculate about its impact and further steps. It’s worth mentioning that Google also rolled out the Diversity Update on the 6th of June. The diversity update was intended to prevent websites from showing multiple results for a given search query. According to Moz, the impact of this update was minimal.
With core algorithm updates, Google says there is no specific fix for your site. If you noticed that your website was affected by this update, you can do several things. You can continue to focus on writing high-quality content and updating the content you already have. But the best advice is to read the Search Quality Rater Guidelines in their entirety. There are some excellent tips related to E-A-T and content quality in the guide, and the advice comes straight from Google.
September 2019 Core Update
The next Google update was announced on the 24th of September. Google released a broad core algorithm update and, as always, provided general guidelines to follow if you see your website drop in the SERPs. The SEO community established that this update mostly hit categories like Food & Drink, Computers & Electronics, and Finance. We measured it using our SEO tools, as this is the best way to analyze and optimize your SEO actions in such cases.
Although Google’s core updates are important, they’re not everything that happened in the SEO industry in 2019. Let’s see what else there was.
What did the BERT update change?
On the 25th of October, Google introduced the BERT update, the aim of which is to improve results for users who search with more natural, conversational queries. As Google stated on its blog, BERT will help Search better understand one in 10 searches in the U.S. in English, and Google will bring it to more languages and locales over time. This update is another step towards voice search development, as it focuses mostly on conversational queries.
The algorithm learns from one language and is able to apply what it has learned to other languages. So, after the models have learned English, they will then apply their knowledge to languages like Spanish, Polish, French, German, etc. The BERT model will also improve featured snippets in countries where this option is available. Read more in our article on BERT.
What is speakable by schema.org?
Another interesting thing is the introduction of the beta version of speakable structured data (schema.org). Its aim is to allow the identification of text fragments that Google Assistant could use as answers to specific user questions. Thanks to speakable, we can increase our chances of ranking high for voice search queries. Currently, the speakable property is available for users in the U.S. who have Google Home devices set to English, and for publishers who create content in English. Google hopes to launch it in other countries and languages soon.
Will voice search keep growing?
Most of the SEO changes introduced in 2019 aim to improve the voice search experience and the quality of search results. Voice search is developing extensively and customers use it more and more frequently. Voice assistants are becoming more and more popular, as is the use of voice search. This trend will be growing, so website owners and SEO experts have to take it into account while planning strategies for 2020.
What changed in 2019 and what will 2020 bring?
A lot has changed in the SEO industry in 2019, but there’s one thing that hasn’t: SEO activities have always been and will be focused on constant optimization. As someone once said, the only constant thing is change.
Hopefully, we’ll see a lot of positive changes in 2020, especially changes resulting in higher rankings for our clients. Happy New Year!
Looking back from 2026
| What we wrote in 2019 | What actually happened |
|---|---|
| Core updates will keep coming | Confirmed: 2–4 a year; since March 2024 they include the helpful content system (Google) |
| E-A-T matters for rankings | Google added Experience in December 2022 (E-E-A-T); it guides raters, it isn’t a score (Google) |
| BERT will improve conversational queries | Confirmed; BERT reached 70+ languages in December 2019 and almost every English query by 2020; then came MUM and Gemini-based AI Overviews |
| Speakable will help voice search | Still in beta, US English news publishers only (Google) |
| Voice search will keep growing | It plateaued; AI assistants and AI Overviews changed search instead |
