Google Algorithm
SEO Updates on July 28, 2016
Google Algorithm Updates
Every once in a while, Google will update their search criteria, this will, in turn, have effects on the Google SERPS. Plosion Web Design has created this Google update blog to help you keep up to date with the ever changing Google digital scenery.
What are we looking out for, well Google has a long history of algorithm updates, refreshes, and SERPS changes. Some of the most important updates are:
The Google Hummingbird is an updated search platform which was rolled out September 2013. The name originates from being “precise and fast”.
Google Hummingbird has been designed to look more in depth in a search query and concentrates on the meaning of a query as opposed to just words. Hence a page that concurs with a user’s search criteria meaning will ultimately do better than a page that just has a few matching words.
Google Mobile-Friendly
Mobilegeddon was released on April 21, 2015. The update was created to help mobile friendly web pages perform better than pages that are not mobile friendly, mobilegeddon concentrates largely on user experience.
A useful resource to see if a website is mobile-friendly is Googles Mobile Friendly Test Tool.
Googles’ Panda update was first introduced in February 2011, this update has been designed to hold sites with low-quality content back in the SERPS, until said pages have improved. Google Panda is updated quite often, which gives penalised sites another chance to improve their SERP results.
Google Penguin
Googles’ Penguin was first released in April 2012, the Penguin update was released to help find websites that were using unnatural links from spam websites and link farms. If a website is found by Google Penguin to be using unnatural links, a penalty is issued via webmaster tools, and the website will incur a drop in SERP rankings. A penalised website can recover if an action has been taken to remove the unnatural links before the next Google Penguin update is issued.
The Google Pigeon update was released to specifically concentrate on U.S English search results. The update helps improve local search results. The update helps pool local businesses in a more traditional web search.
Payday Update
Google’s Payday update was released in June 2013. The Payday update reduces the number of spammy web pages for the generic terms of say, “pay-day loans”, and other very spammy SERP queries.
Pirate Update
Google’s Pirate Update was rolled out in August 2012, this update prevents websites with copyright infringement reports from ranking high in the SERPS. This filter is updated every so often, which allows previously penalised sites to recover if they have made the correct changes.
EMD Update
The EMD update “Exact Match Domain” was released in September 2012, EMD update stops poor sites that have low content from ranking well. Exact match domain websites now have to have quality content and high user retention to be ranked high by Google.
Top Heavy Update
Top Heavy was launched in January 2012, this update penalises websites which are top heavy with adverts.
How Will Google’s Updates Affect You
Googles algorithm updates will affect you in a negative way if your previous SEO agency recruited unethical SEO techniques. If you have have been a longstanding Plosion Web Design SEO customer the Google updates should not affect you in a negative way. However we do not have any control over how Google makes changes to their algorithm, all we can do is adhere to keeping up to date with Google as they make their search engine more user-friendly.
