Yandex "Andromeda": how the stellar update will affect SEO promotion

On November 19, 2018, the Yandex "Andromeda" update became the main discussed news in the IT community. The company presented improvements to the search ranking algorithm, and, judging by the excitement on the webmaster forums, the improvements shocked the traffic of many sites. For Yandex, this is the biggest innovation since August 2017, when the Korolev search algorithm was introduced, the continuation of which is essentially Andromeda. The company's specialists say that more than 1000 changes were made, the formation and evaluation of which took more than a year.

New services Yandex "Andromeda"

The new Yandex "Andromeda" algorithm has affected almost all aspects of the search engine, including the differences in search results for desktop and mobile devices. After a large-scale update of Korolev, the share of the Yandex search engine in the mobile version increased by 6%. The company's experts expect Andromeda to continue its growth trend. The main improvements affect the following categories that contribute to the user experience:

• Marks of Excellence. Sites are assigned stickers: tick, fire and crown. "Tick" indicates the official source, website, dealer, profile. Sites that are popular in their category get a "fire" sticker to help them navigate. Korona is a site with a loyal audience, not necessarily high traffic. For example, a highly specialized forum.
• Quick answers.The user receives a response in the search results without a direct transition to the site. Despite the fact that this is a strength of the search engine, it lowers the CTR of sites. Now the quick responses of the new Yandex Andromeda algorithm have been expanded and cover the scenarios of cafes, hotels, shops, etc. The results for sports requests have been significantly improved: match schedule, tournament tables, news, links to live broadcasts and replays of important moments. In the big Search, the integration "chat with the company" has been added. The user will be able to communicate with a company representative without going to the resource.
• Yandex. Collections. Before the major Andromeda update, users could add pictures. You can now add and group content such as websites, videos, visited places, and movies into collections. Just select the "Add to collection" action. Privacy settings are also set: hidden collections, accessible only to the user, and public ones. Public selections participate in the large search engine results and in the search for the service.
• Yandex.Connoisseurs. It has become an improved version of itself, as the company has previously tested and launched it. The first variation of the service with answers was launched in February 2009, but was closed a year later.

Downsides of the SEO Upgrade

The big update affected SEO promotion in Yandex, but due to ranking, not indexing. There is a complication of search engine optimization due to behavioral factors, higher requirements for the site. The CTR may drop as the person gets the response without going to the portal. Stickers that speak about the characteristics of the site attract more audience. Under such conditions, Internet resources will have to be integrated into Yandex services so that users give preference to them.

Expert opinions: how changes will affect SEO

Negative opinion

Expert opinions on the Yandex Andromeda update for SEO are ambiguous. On the one hand, the process of promoting an Internet site in the TOP-10 is becoming more complicated. Little-known brands will have to use external development channels to attract an audience and gain popularity. The share of advertising results will increase, while the organic part will decrease. It is assumed that organic traffic will fall, but in the case of commercial projects, it is too early to judge this factor. Now the loyalty of the current audience is taken into account and it is more difficult for young resources to find their audience.

Positive opinion

On the other hand, Yandex is a search engine for people. Updating it is a way to get a larger share of loyal users through satisfying search queries. Andromeda is a Yandex search update that will change the quality of content for the better. The owners of commercial projects will need to reconsider the concept of filling the content of the page, which will lead to high user engagement. The new algorithm Yandex "Andromeda": the complexity of SEO optimization At this stage, it becomes more difficult to promote an Internet site. In addition to the fact that competition is growing every month, search engines also make their own adjustments, complicating the task. Now, for SEO promotion, one specialist is not enough, but a whole range of services and activities is required that will continuously work in order to attract relevant traffic. Emis is a company working for results. We have found an approach to achieve consistently high results with regularly changing search engine algorithms. Our SEO specialists not only track SEO trends, but also successfully implement them, achieving TOP-level results. We know how to make your Internet project profitable.