You undoubtedly already know that search engines like Google alter their algorithms almost on a daily basis if you are familiar with digital marketing and SEO. Each year, they will release hundreds of updates, some of which will be more substantial than others. These updates are dreaded by many in the digital marketing industry since they have a big impact on a website’s rankings, yet they are necessary to enhance user search experiences. Here are some of Google’s most significant modifications, which still influence search results today and are expected to be followed by others.
THE PAGERANK UPDATE
In 2000, Google employee Larry Page helped create the PageRank update, which bears his name. The update’s goal was to rank all websites according to their importance, which was easily manipulated by website owners. With the upgrade, your ranking would increase in proportion to the quantity and quality of your backlinks. To put it frankly, you will move up to position one in the search results faster the more links you can afford to purchase.
THE PENGUIN UPDATE
In order to prevent people from creating tens of thousands of low-quality links in order to rank highly in the search results, the Penguin update went live in 2021. The upgrade had a substantial impact on a large number of websites across numerous industries since it targeted websites that employed black hat approaches to manipulate their rankings. After this upgrade, the adage “content is king” became widely accepted, and it is still important for page rankings today. The top Perth SEO experts or consultants in your city can provide you with several suggestions on how to make sure your website is not penalized by this upgrade.
THE PANDA UPDATE
In 2011, Google published Panda, one of the most important changes, which targeted websites with poor content and keyword stuffing. When the revisions went into force, about 12 percent of websites were affected by this upgrade because they had written content that was of no utility to users. The Panda update is still essential today as it was when it originally went into force in 2011, so you should always make sure your material is original, pertinent, and of the highest caliber. In 2016, Google incorporated the Panda update to its core algorithm.
Source: Flickr, “THE HUMMINGBIRD UPDATE”
After Hummingbird went live in 2015, this update served to better comprehend user intent. By analyzing the context and synonymy of the search query, the system was able to determine the user’s purpose and deliver results that were pertinent. This update’s increased prominence of long-tail terms in the search results is a big advantage. It gave website owners the opportunity to concentrate on particular principal keywords and rank for longer versions of the phrases, which indicated the searcher’s intent.
There are many more upgrades from Google besides these, but these are just a few of the more notable ones that have been released over time. A thorough list of all the changes is available via Google search.
Credits for the main image: Digital Edge
