Have you ever wondered why Google keeps pushing out algorithm updates and what these Google algorithm changes are all about? No digital marketing consultants or SEO specialists can exactly predict what any future update will look like. Google claims to update its search algorithm numerous times each year. However, in the majority of cases, Google algorithm updates are too small to notice. But, every once in a while, Google introduces a change so major, that it dislocates the way digital marketing consultants do SEO forever. 

Google’s search algorithm is a complex system, which they use to rank domains on their search engine on the basis of the user’s query. Together with this algorithm, Google uses over 200 ranking factors to rank a domain to its search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO specialists and search engine marketers in the industries claim that each year, Google releases thousands of algorithm updates to refine their search results to address user’s queries.  In its early years, Google only made a few updates to its algorithms but now, Google makes thousands of changes every year.

Let’s take a look into why these 12 major updates were introduced, how they work, and what changes we had to make to our SEO tactics in response.

All Google Updates You Should Be Aware Of

#1. Panda Update

(Date: February 24, 2011)

The Panda algorithm update allocates a so-called quality score to web pages. This quality score is then used as a ranking factor. Initially, the effects of Panda were insignificant, but in January 2016 it was permanently integrated into Google’s core algorithm. Therefore, SEO consultants and search engine marketers need to run regular site checks for content duplication, thin content, and keyword stuffing. 

To do that, they need a site crawler, like SEO PowerSuite’s Website Auditor. With the Content Editor module of WebSite Auditor, you can also avoid a potential penalty and create pages without the risk of unintentional keyword stuffing. Content Editor evaluates the pages of your top competitors and delivers SEO recommendations on the basis of the content that’s already successful in Google search.

#2. Penguin Update

(Date: April 24, 2012)

Google Penguin’s objective is to down-rank sites whose backlinks appear abnormal. This update put an end to small-effort link building, like obtaining links from link farms and PBNs. To stay safe from the effects of the Google Penguin update, monitor your link profile’s growth and run frequent audits with a backlink checker like SEO SpyGlass. 

In the tool’s Summary dashboard, you’ll get a progress graph for your link profile’s growth. Navigate to the Penalty Risk tab and organize your backlink list from maximum risk to lowest. Links with a risk above 50% should be inspected. If they come out to be malicious, add them to the disavow file, download it, and submit it to Google’s Disavow Links Tool.

#3. Hummingbird Update

(Date: August 22, 2013)

The Hummingbird algorithm helps Google better understand search queries and deliver results that match searcher intent. While keywords remain important, the Hummingbird algorithm makes it possible for a page to rank for a query even though it doesn’t include the exact words the searcher entered.

Digital marketing consultants and SEO specialists need to expand keyword research and focus on the concepts behind the keywords. Carefully evaluate related searches, synonyms, and co-occurring terms. Great sources of such ideas are Google Related Searches and Google Related Questions, along with Google Autocomplete suggestions. You’ll locate all of them integrated into Rank Tracker’s Keyword Research module.

#4. Pigeon Update

(Date: July 24, 2014)

Local search is fast gaining prominence and the Pigeon update plays a key role in determining website ranking in this respect. It helps local and core search algorithms come together to throw locally suitable search results. While local businesses with a great online presence profited hugely from it, still others were hit critically, with reports of a 50% decrease in rankings in some cases.

Google Pigeon recovery techniques are simple and would help any business well. Ensure you are registered in local business directories and are giving out the correct contact information online, containing your name, phone number, and address. In conclusion, ensure your business/office location is optimized on Google Maps by marking what areas you are functioning in, the categories you serve, etc. 

#5. Mobile Update 

(Date: April 21, 2015)

This, and subsequent mobile search updates (2018, 2020) have shifted the attention from a desktop to a mobile version of your website. Today, Google ranks all websites on the basis of how quick and user-friendly their mobile versions are. Google’s mobile-friendly and page speed tests will help you realize which features of your page need to be improved. The tests are incorporated into WebSite Auditor so you can check your pages’ mobile optimization as a part of your complete website audit. 

#6. RankBrain Update

(Date: October 26, 2015)

RankBrain update is a part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm. It is a machine learning system that helps Google comprehend the meaning behind queries and serve top matching search results in response to those queries. While we don’t know the particular formula behind this major update, the consensus is that RankBrain is accountable for customizing a user’s Google search results. 

Search engine marketers and SEO consultants need to optimize your pages for relevance and inclusiveness with the help of competitive analysis. With the help of WebSite Auditor‘s TF-IDF tool, you can discover complete lists of relevant terms and concepts used by a huge number of your top-ranking competitors. 

#7. Possum Update

(Date: October 1st, 2016)

On the date, September 2016 Google released the Possum update in which local businesses were given importance over others. However, if you shared an address with competitors or businesses that have related contributions, your rankings or probabilities of being featured in SERPs could suffer. The most exciting part about Possum Update is that very similar search phrases will create different results and what one user sees will be different from others. 

For Google Possum recovery, you must track your search rankings from particular, appropriate geo-locations. Also, try to compose close variations of the same search query and expand your keyword coverage strategy by diving into locally relevant search terms. 

#8. Medic Update 

(Date: May 4, 2018)

The Google Medic update seemed to excessively affect medical websites along with other websites that have to do with potentially life-altering decisions like finance, law, education, etc. While not clearly confirmed, Google representatives have implied that the update implemented some of the E-A-T (expertise, authority, trust) signals from the Quality Rater Guidelines document.

Some SEO consultants suggest hiring expert writers to provide credibility to your website, others claim the solution is in building entities for your brand. But, if we were to stick to the facts, the only effective way to improve the authority of your website is by growing your backlink profile. An effective approach would be to use a backlink research tool, like SEO SpyGlass, and borrow backlink concepts from your competitors.

#9. Bert Update

(Date: October 25, 2019)

On 25 October 2019, Google announced one of the most significant updates in recent times called Bert Update. BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. It recognizes sentences or phrases within web page content and utilizes Natural Language Processing (NLP) to comprehend search terms better. NLP comprehends and evaluates how we interact as humans in terms of terminology. This way, Bert gets a better understanding of content searched by the user. It is important to note that Bert examines search queries and not web pages.

#10. Core Algorithm Update

(Date: January 13, 2020)

Google officially announced the release of a broad core algorithm update on January 13, 2020, after a lot of rumors and talks surfaced with respect to fluctuations in ranking signals.  As it is a broad core algorithm update, the effect will be seen across all search results worldwide. Google did mention that the update is not associated with any particular targets that webmasters can improve upon.

#11. Passage Ranking Update

(Date: February 10, 2021)

The Passage Ranking was aimed to benefit long-form pages to rank with some parts of their content. Google did not share any particular guidelines to optimize for the update. The advice was just to keep focusing on great and appropriate content. SEO consultants and search engine marketers registered only slight instability on SERPs, stating the impact was minimal.

#12. Product Reviews Update

(Date: April 8, 2021)

The problem behind this update is the plenty of thin-content product reviews that carry little value to users. This enhancement is expected to improve the ranking of rich content product reviews. The protection against the Product Reviews Update is following general quality guidelines: reviews should be based on original research and perceptive analysis from digital marketing consultants or search engine marketers who know the topic well.

Conclusion

Until now, Google has been 100% successful in reinventing search while both expecting and catering to user behavior. SEO is not a one-time exercise it needs you to think on your feet while staying up-to-date on the latest Google algorithm updates and other search marketing trends.

However, If you want to drive results for your company you can hire digital marketing services from a reputed SEO marketing company like QuadVentures.com.my

Keep Growing!