A little guide to Google Algorithm…

Before we turn our focus on the updates, we need to understand what is Google Algorithm. Google Algorithms are a complex system that retrieves data from the search engine and instantly delivers the best possible results for a query. Yes, that’s how we can see multiple results for our search query.

Google Algorithm update is one of the most searched keywords amongst the SEOs, mainly because every update brings uncertainty with itself. Google rolls out hundreds of core algorithm updates every year but only announces a few that have a greater impact on SERP.

We will be only discussing the major and latest updates here.

Good! Now that you guys know what this is all about. Let’s move onto the updates.

So, what happened, and what’s coming next? How do these new changes affect your SEO and marketing strategy?

To start, let’s jump in the SEO time machine and turn the dial to September 2016.

Whum-whum-whum-whum- BZZZZZZZZZ

Ahh, here we are… Gotye is on the radio, Mitt Romney is creeping closer to the Republican nomination, an UN-brokered ceasefire is starting in Syria. Simpler times!

On Friday, September 23’rd the rumbles started in the SEO-sphere, with fluctuations in Google Ranking reported early and continuing over the next few days. By early the next week it was confirmed: The latest Google Penguin update had rolled out, adding real-time functionality to the biggest web-spam fighting algorithm in the search giant’s toolbox.

Many websites saw their ranks increasing, a few saw them fall drastically, but for most the results were… mixed.

What Penguin 4.0 was all about

Penguin 4.0, was released , and it was a big change then! Here are the big differences with Penguin 4.0:

• Penguin 4.0 was integrated with Google’s core algorithm

This meant that the effects of this update will be more integrated, more smooth, and perhaps more significant.

• Penguin 4.0 will update in real-time
  No more waiting months for your disavowal to take effect, Penguin recovery would now happen whenever your backlinks are indexed – as close to real-time as Google changes can get!
• Penguin 4.0 will only affect specific pages, not whole domains
  Google was no longer penalizing entire domains if bad links are localized to a certain page or group of pages. This had already caused big boosts with some sites already struggling with previous penalties!
• Penguin 4.0 will be the FINAL Penguin update.

No more stress over the next Penguin storm to roll through town! Since all Penguin updates were going to happen in real-time, you can be sure that if you get your penalty removed, it will stay removed.

Ok, fire up the SEO Time Machine again and head back… to the current time!

No headline recap this time, please…

The year 2017/18…

On March 9, 2017, Google’s Gary Illyes jokingly called this upcoming update “Fred” but it turned out that it was not a joke for those impacted after the update was officially confirmed on March, 24.

“Fred” is not a single algorithm but a bunch of changes and update(s) in the algorithm(s) that is related to the site quality and is targeting low-quality content meant to generate revenue. 

To explain it even simpler, this name “Fred” doesn’t mean anything but a series of updates in the core algorithm to deal with quality issues.

You might be thinking about what can I do to if I have already been hit by the Fred or avoid getting hit from another Fred.  

Two Google documents can help you locate your issue and fix it.

Google Webmaster Guidelines, make sure you have read and covered all the basics in this quality guideline.

If you are sure that you have implemented all the quality guidelines in Google Webmaster Guidelines, the second document that tells you specifically what to review is The Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.

Make sure you have followed all the guidelines in the documents and you are good to go.

The year 2019…

The year 2019 was all about the broad core algorithm updates. The Florida 2 released in March 2019 was considered the biggest core updates in years. Although Google has said there is nothing much you can do to fix it as it doesn’t target websites or niches but, if your site has lost ranking because of this update, there will be clues right there to help you figure out a way to get back your rank.

Another major update of the year was “Bert” announced in October 2019. It was called the biggest change to Google search in the last 5 years which was said to impact 10% of search queries. What does it mean for SEOs? It won’t help poorly written websites. What can you do it fix it? Make your content more focused and well organized to bring in more traffic.

So, what does this mean for you?

If you are a business struggling to boost your search engine traffic, now is the time to act! If you think you’ve been hit by any of these updates, these are a few things you can do.

• Disavowing and removing bad links now will have an immediate and lasting effect.
• Focused and well-written content.
• Ensure that you’ve gone through the Google Webmaster Guidelines &The Google Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines and implemented the necessary site quality controls.

Are you struggling to bring in search engine traffic? Do you want to see how professional backlink recovery could help your business? Contact us, we’d love to help you!