A Complete Guide To Major Google Algorithm Updates

A Complete Guide To Major Google Algorithm Updates

Every business whether small or large strives hard to get on the top of search engine rankings. From high-quality content to implementing the best SEO strategies, and a user-friendly website, there are many ways to bring your website to the first page of Google. However, all your efforts can go to waste, if you are not keeping up with the Google algorithm updates. Every year Google updates its search algorithm so that digital marketers and SEO executives can stay ahead of SEO techniques.

It is important to work as per Google updates to make your SEO strategies work in the favor of your business. You may ignore some of the minor updates however some of the updates are so powerful and effective that they can change your SEO game and drop your SEO rankings. The best way to avoid any unfortunate event is by keeping your website and SEO strategies in compliance with Google updates. Any update is responsible for improving the overall user experience. Till today, Google has launched many important updates.

In this blog, we have mentioned some of the major Google Algorithm updates that every digital marketer must know. So, without further delay, let’s begin. 

Major Google Algorithm Updates 

• Panda

Launched in 2011, Panda is the first ever major Google Algorithm update that scores your website which further is used as a ranking factor. It mainly looks for content quality, duplicate or plagiarized content, and keyword stuffing. This means websites with low-quality and plagiarized content will experience low rankings. 

The best way to adjust to this update and not get penalized by Google is by drafting high-quality, unique, and keyword-optimized content. You can check the uniqueness of your content on tools like Copyscape.

• Penguin

Introduced in 2012, the next major update after Panda is Penguin which aims to lower the rankings of websites that have paid links, spammy links, overly optimized anchor text, or unnatural backlinks. It was in the year 2016 when Penguin became a permanent part of Google’s core ranking algorithm.

To stay safe from the negative effects of the Google Penguin update, make sure to use natural links and track the growth of your link profile and run regular audits with a backlink checker.

Please note that Google doesn’t punish websites having 1-2 spammy links. However, websites with a good number of irrelevant backlinks can face major ranking issues.

• Hummingbird

Just like Panda, Hummingbird update targets websites having Keyword stuffing and poor-quality content. Launched in 2013, the Hummingbird update helps search engines analyze search queries and provide results that match user intent. Yes, keywords are important but the Hummingbird update makes it possible for your website to rank for a keyword even if it doesn’t have the actual words the user entered. 

The best tip to stay updated is to broaden your keyword research and use SEO-friendly keywords in your content. This way you will be able to cater to the content needs of your target audience and boost user engagement and SEO rankings.

• RankBrain

The next important update on the list is RankBrain launched in 2015. This machine learning system is a part of the Hummingbird update that makes Google understand the meaning of queries so that it can show the best results in response to those queries. As per Google, RankBrain is one of the important updates to be considered for ranking your website. 

In other words, the main job of RankBrain is to customize a user’s search query. As per the RankBrain update, the content must be optimized with the help of competitive analysis to provide a seamless experience to users. 

• Fred 

Introduced in 2017,  Fred Algorithm update de-ranks the websites that don’t comply with Google’s webmaster policies. This mainly includes low-quality blog posts that are meant to generate revenue. Digital marketers creating low-quality and ad-centered websites to generate revenue can face serious consequences under this Google update.

The best way to stay safe is by creating create high-quality, informative, and relevant blog posts. It is not possible to fool Google with a webpage full of affiliate links. Doing so can penalize your website.

• BERT

Released in 2019, BERT is one of the best and biggest Google Algorithm updates that helps Google to understand search engine queries in the best way possible. As per Google, this update has a major impact on both search rankings and featured snippets.

The main goal of this update is to understand the context of the content, and search query, and avoid the use of poor-quality content. The best way to stay safe is by optimizing your website with images or videos. 

Final Words

Listed above are some of the major Google Algorithm updates that every digital marketer, SEO executive, webmaster, or industry expert must know. To stay ahead of Google rankings, make sure to work in compliance with Google updates.

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Anchit Sood January 24th, 2023