It’s been a busy summer for marketers. Google’s AI Overviews have probably been the biggest talking point over the past few months. We’ve covered that extensively in our last marketing news blog, as well as our guide to navigating zero click searches.
July also saw some big changes you should be aware of. From Google’s latest core update to big moves in social and B2B advertising, July has been anything but quiet. Here’s a summary of what’s changed, why it matters, and where marketers can find a competitive edge.
Instagram posts are now ranking in Google Search
Why are Instagram posts appearing in search?
As of the 10th of July, Google and Bing are officially indexing public posts from professional Instagram accounts. This means your Instagram content can now appear in search results images, captions, hashtags and all.
Why it matters?
It’s the first time Instagram has allowed search engines to crawl individual post content, opening a new SEO channel based around social content.
Posts that once had a 48-hour lifespan could now generate long-term organic traffic. There’s a strong chance that your older posts could start generating traffic for you if their captions are well-optimised for search.
These posts rank in search results and as sources in AI Overviews. If you can get your strategy right here, it’s potentially a very strong source of organic traffic.
How to rank Instagram posts on Google?
With the update having been live for nearly a month, we’ve got a good grasp of how posts are appearing in search.
The first step to rank your posts in Google is to ensure you have a professional account, and search engine indexing is enabled in your settings. This is enabled by default.
The next step is to work on your captions. Generally, Instagram takes the first line of your caption and makes it into your meta title, it’ll also include the title you set on your Instagram account. For reference, here’s how a couple of our own posts ranked straight after the update.
The strategy going forward is this: optimise Instagram captions like you would metadata. Include keywords, locations, and clear context. Make sure your account is public and professional and align your posts with your brand’s tone of voice and visuals.
Read our full blog on this change here
Google’s June Core Update finally completes rollout
What’s in the next Core Update?
After three weeks, Google’s June 2025 core update officially completed its rollout on July 8th.
Trends seem to indicate that smaller websites have been the big winners this time around, with many who had previously seen their traffic drop, improve again. This is an especially positive sign for B2B businesses
Why it matters?
SEO expert Marie Haynes identified some key trends following the update on July the 15th.
Rather than targeting specific niches, this update appears to reward site-wide content quality and credibility. Pages that improved often offered unique perspectives, useful examples, and signs that they had been written by an author who genuinely understood the subject.
Google’s focus on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) has been a key factor in their recent updates, and this round of changes appears similar. However, compared to a lot of changes over the past year, this round has appeared to have worked a lot more effectively.
Content that performed well include blog or service page content that features helpful visuals, unique insights that aren’t found elsewhere, and content that is easy to skim read. Easy enough right?
How should marketers respond to the recent core update?
First, check your Google Search Console. Look at which pages gained or lost traffic. If you’ve been writing your own blogs for a while, you might see some older ones ranking a little higher!
If your rankings slipped, it might be time to improve content depth. Update outdated info, add some visuals, case studies, personal insights, or expert commentary. Quality, clarity, and authenticity are the factors that matter most, rather than sheer volume of content.
Source: mariehaynes.com
Google Trends API launches in alpha
What’s new?
Google has launched an alpha version of the Google Trends API, something marketers and SEOs have been asking after for years. For now, it’s available by request and free during this early testing phase. The new API opens up some potentially interesting use cases for marketers.
Why it matters?
Google Trends is a staple of campaign planning, it allows you to measure all the searches made on Google about specific topics but using it at scale has always been clunky. The API allows you to extract consistently scaled data, rather than the proportional range of 0 to 100 that the Trends website uses.
To put that in plain English, the API means you can more accurately compare dozens of search terms over the past five years, allowing you to gauge interest in particular subjects in a more efficient way.
How to use the Google Trends API
You can apply for access to the Google Trends API alpha by following the link below. There are some potentially exciting use cases for marketing managers. Being able to compare unlimited terms at once allows you to come up with wider reaching keyword plans, and prioritising particular terms when developing up with content strategies.
Source: Google Developers Blog
LinkedIn video ads drive major engagement lift
What’s changed?
A new LinkedIn study has found that B2B video ads lead to a 34% lift in ad recall, and a 20% increase in purchase consideration. Vertical video in particular is driving strong results. This is a change being promoted by LinkedIn themselves, sharing research that showed that videos are shared 20 times more than any other content.
Why it matters?
While LinkedIn has always been the dominant B2B marketing channel, knowing which formats perform better allow marketers to start allocating resources more efficiently. It’s also helpful to know vertical video is proving to be more engaging and effective for brand-building.
The study also showed what video content an emphasis on culture is important. Audiences on LinkedIn want to see content that reflects their own working life. That’s good news for SMBs who have found video content tough to tackle in the past. There doesn’t have to be big budgets involved, just a social strategy that allows you to consistently post video content.
What to do next
Review your LinkedIn analytics, check whether your stats align with what LinkedIn is saying. If you’re not already using video, think about how you can get short-form, vertically filmed video content in your next campaign.
Also consider the channels behind your social content, video content from individual creators is currently performing well compared to company accounts. If you’re looking for resources or inspiration for your next campaign, why not check out our new home for videography, GetReel?
Source: Search Engine Land
If you need a sounding board to make sense of it all, we’re here to help. Drop us a message and let’s talk strategy.