Algorithm updates and SEO changes
In this blog, we are going to talk about the changing state of SEO.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able:
- Describe how the Google panda and Google penguin updates changed SEO
- Summarize how Not Provided changed keyword research
- Defend the importance of SEO in this ever-evolving internet landscape
Biggest SEO misconception
Now, one of the biggest misconceptions in SEO is that SEO is constantly changing.
While that is somewhat true, the misconception is that it requires you to change tactics.
Now, while it is true that the search engine algorithm is constantly being tweaked and small updates being applied, what is true today has been always true in the world of Search Engine Optimization and that is to create high-quality content that people need and one that has always been the critical focus of SEO and the best practice has never changed.
What to measure?
Now, in the past, one could use ranking reports and analytics as a method of gaining an accurate measurement of SEO efforts.
After SEO had been applied, then your analytics would show increases in keyword traffic for the terms you optimized for.
Unfortunately, both of these methods are no longer useful.
The search engines no longer passed keyword data to your analytics and watching rankings is less reliable now.
What we can measure is, increased traffic to our optimized pages and the results of those visits: the on-page visit time, the depth of visit, conversions, and more.
Constant changes
Now as I said, the most important aspects of SEO, the best practices have never changed and that is creating quality content and then marketing that content to other websites through a variety of media.
What changes constantly is, that the search engine is always striving for quality results.
In addition, they’re also striving to increase their monetization of search results.
Google representatives say that they changed the algorithm about 500 times a year.
The first part, quality results, involves a constant eye to catching those who use sneaky tactics to fool the search engines.
Therefore, this is done through falsifying link relevancy as many find holes and exploit them in order to make their website look more relevant.
So, search engines are constantly tweaking the algorithm to find and exclude sites that use those tactics.
So, the constant tweaking is a sign of housekeeping to maintain a high level of quality results and the vast majority of these changes are very very small.
Secondly, the ads are what make the vast majority of revenue for Google and for many other search engines.
By changing the display, placement, and number of ads, the types of ads, and many other factors, search engines are trying to get searchers to click on ads, that’s what makes them money and so many of the updates are to provide quality results and high-quality attractive ads as well.
Once in a while, we’ll have what’s called an SEO blip or sometimes what’s referred to as a Google dance.
This is when a bigger algorithm update will occur.
A small minority of website owners typically freak out and they’ll say SEO is completely changed, it’s different, and the world’s no longer going to be the way that it used to be.
Each time that happens, we say okay, everybody calms down, and let’s look at the bigger picture and it turns out not to be a big deal.
The rankings may have changed somewhere but it’s very difficult to say how, where, and why as the results are so different for everyone around the world.
However, for those that are attempting to exploit gaps or holes in the algorithm in order to fool the search engines,
they are the ones that are suddenly missing their rankings and possibly their website.
The vast majority of the time if you maintain best practices, you have nothing to worry about.
However, if you are changing tactics based on the latest intelligence or advice that means chasing the holes in the algorithm to gain a quick advantage, you may find yourself on the penalty end of an algorithm update.
So, be wary of following new advice or tactics.
Over the past years, we’ve had three major algorithm updates that really have affected a wide part of the internet.
interestingly they are major because they focused on the quality of the content of websites.
These rare content-focused updates focus on rewarding sites that have invested in quality content
And reducing the visibility or relevance of sites with poor quality content.
These major updates were named Panda, Penguin, and HummingBird.
Panda update: Google
panda was the name of the first major content-oriented algorithm update and it affected millions of websites.
The general; concept was that they looked for content that was of low quality and instead of penalizing it a little bit, they threw it entirely out.
In many cases, it eliminated the entire domain from the results.
Overnight there was an algorithm update that really did, for the first time, enforce a high content quality standard and it took an active approach to demote and remove low-quality content websites.
Google set the bar and put teeth in their guidelines that demand high-quality content.
Algorithm updates before used to affect one small part or percentage of all searches globally.
This update immediately impacted 12% of all searches globally.
Now it’s still a part of today’s algorithm and it is still being updated but only in small portions.
Penguin update: Google
Not long after people panicked when the panda update came out, there was another update called Penguin.
Now, Penguin worked differently as it focused on links.
For those people who had not been following SEO best practices, if they didn’t get caught in Panda, they got caught in Penguin.
Therefore, Google backed up its guidelines recommending that you should not pay for links to artificially increase your popularity.
This wasn’t too strongly enforced.
So, people were buying links using farms.
Therefore, just like the other update, many websites were thrown completely out of the index.
Hummingbird update: Google
Now the next update was Hummingbird and it’s an example of how AI is being used to derive intent from the overall page, website, and context.
whereas, HummingBird is moving away from the single keyword approach to searchers and matching results from the page.
It takes a more contextual approach to both the entire search query of the words being used but not individually but together and then looking at the overall content of the pages in the index.
Therefore, the algorithm is evaluating the pages for answers, not just data.
This approach rewards websites that use natural language content that reads conversationally.
It strengthens the long-tail search.
So, according to Google, synonyms affected 70% of searches across more than 100 languages.
Rankbrain
RankBrain is a machine learning application within the Google algorithm.
RankBranin is not an algorithm in itself and it is focused on interpreting new or difficult or ambiguous words or searches.
It’s machine learning because it’s updating itself as it learns.
It attempts to connect new words or phrases to their actual intended meaning.
In that case, having a substantial amount of high-quality content will enable RankBrain to connect the intent of the query to your website.
Not provided
Not provided. Historically, we used to be able to see the keywords people searched with and then found our websites.
They searched for a toy store and they came to our website.
We’d be able to see that in our analytics.
This was wonderful because we could create content around the terms that we knew people were using to find our website.
It started with Google as they switched to a more secure search, it’s not provided.
when we log into our analytics, instead of seeing the words people used when they came to our website.
We just see the phrase Not Provided as the primary keyword and that’s a shame.
It really changed the way we do SEO.
SEO is still powerful
Now, whenever I talk about the Panda and Penguin updates, it is not to scare you,
In fact, I want to inspire you to develop great content that people want: educate, entertain, and communicate with high-quality content in a variety of formats.
Stay within best practices and you won’t have to worry about the updates.
SEO is still the most powerful channel that we have in online marketing.
People’s use of search engines increases every day.
The amount of searchers people makes a day is increasing as well.
Without the data that was available, we don’t have some of the tools we used to have in the past but with more extensive keyword research, developing and marketing content, and increasing expertise in analytics, you’ll be able to overcome it as search is more in demand than ever before.
Key takeaways
- The Google Panda and Penguin updates differ from other updates in size and impact
- The not Provided has made accurate keyword research more difficult.
- SEO is still the most effective and free marketing channel. It is unlikely to disappear in the near future.