Google updates its ranking algorithm several times in a year. Sometimes they are small to notice but other times they are radical changes hence, it is the duty of every SEO to keep looking for these Google algorithm update. So that you can avoid further degradation in your ranking. Generally, Algorithm means: a set of rules to solve a problem in a finite number of steps. If we talk about Algorithm with respect to Computers it lay the groundwork for the computer to carry out a specific task.
Have you wondered why is that when you type ‘funny dog videos’ or ‘recipe of cheese burger’ on the search engine, it shows millions of results but only few of them make it to the first page of the search results. What is the criteria or how does Google decide which result it wants to list in the top?
It is a bit difficult to determine what are the factors that Google actually sees before preparing the algorithm. Well they don’t reveal it. But one thing for sure, this algorithm preparation is complex. Still, we are aware of few factors that Google considers when it decides whether it wants to put your website in the top search results or not.
- Appearance of key phrase in the title of the page, Meta description and tags.
- Organic and natural links occurrence.
- Level of optimization of the website on mobile phones or tablets.
There may be more of them which we don’t know as of now.
The job of SEO is to make sure that the website stays in top ranking in the search results of search engine. When they keep on updating themselves with the new Google Algorithm updates their work is successful. Ignoring these updates can prove to be a disaster. There are some famous updates from the past which we will talk about in brief. And then I will share a potential algorithm update which has been floating around.
Famous Google Algorithm Updates
Here are listed some popular Google algorithm updates that every SEO need to watch
#. Panda
This update was launched in February, 2011.
Panda update targeted plagiarized or duplicate content, loads of keywords, user-generated spam and invaluable content. Only way to protect your website from this is by putting only quality and authentic content out there. Make sure you maintain originality and use limited and specific keywords only.
#. Penguin
This update was launched in April, 2012.
Penguin is like another face of panda but with more features. It targets activities like buying links, low quality of links, stuffing of keywords, text inside backlinks. To overcome wrath of this update is by checking all the backlinks, removing low quality bad links. Limited keywords are necessary and they should be relevant to the content.
#. Humming bird
This update was launched in August, 2013
It’s also similar to the previous Google algorithm update. This looks for low quality content and loading of keywords. Hummingbird helps Google to rank a page for a query even if it doesn’t contain the exact keywords. This we can accomplish by using natural language processing that leans on latent semantic indexing, synonyms and co-occurring terms. Focus more on the concept behind the keyphrase. Widen your keyword research.
#. Pigeon
This update was launched in July, 2014
This targets local search results. This promotes the local searches. Google rank the Websites based on their location and distance from the user. The ranking is directly proportional to the distance of the user. The closer the user, the higher the ranking. You can strengthen your site ranking by making sure that whatever you put in your content for instance, text, pictures or videos; they should be related to your location. List your business in directories and Google my business. Include Name, address, and contact number in those listings and in your website.
#. Mobilegeddon
This update was done in April, 2015
This is different and important as well. This target webpages that are not mobile friendly, not optimized for Mobile phone which is very important as a large section of the population uses mobile phone and not desktop. In recent years, a shift has been witnessed from desktop to mobile friendly version of the website. Now Google determines the ranking based on how friendly is the mobile version of the website.
To avoid this, make sure your website is fully optimized for mobile version. Besides that, focus should also be on the speed of the website.
#. Bert
This update was launched in October, 2019
This targets poor quality content which lacks focus on the main theme and which is totally irrelevant to the topic. This update uses natural language processing technology to understand and interpret the text and queries in a better way. Make sure the writing of the content should hold some value. It should be of high quality and not meaningless.
New Development
- Recently there has been a new development in the Google ranking algorithm update which has alerted the SEO community. This update is not confirmed yet. There is some news coming in bits and pieces from Reddit and Google webmaster world.
- The past weekend has shown some fluctuations in search results as well as there is a lot of jabber around Google discover changes. It has been going around that Google discover is showing older news more in recent time.
- Some other information is also coming, again unconfirmed. Many people are talking about the huge drop in the website traffic since last Friday. Some have seen jump in traffic that day.
- A buzz is out there that Google is going to update its Ranking algorithm anytime soon. But we will have to wait for that. We can only make assumptions before Google confirm anything.
Conclusion
Google ranking updates is a constant change and we see them time and again. In this article we saw that why every SEO needs to watch for these ranking updates in 2021 in order to stay in the business. There will be more coming in the future as well. If you have also noticed any changes do share with us in the comment section. Till then we will wait for Google to confirm if there is any Google Algorithm update on the cards.
