Google SEO Updates & Algorithm Changes

The digital world is now more hyped-up, dynamic and influential than ever before. It is more focused and competitive as well. With the end goal for you to achieve high search engine rankings and to maintain them, you have to look after the latest Google SEO updates. This is the initial move towards staying aware of the latest SEO trends and remaining focused.

The SEO updates are directly proportional to Google’s algorithm updates that search engines receive. Since Google is the pioneer in the search marketing, new changes in Google Algorithm Update are vital to enhance optimization of your website. Website admins need to have phenomenal understanding of all the latest Google search engine algorithm updates and related procedures, as only this can let them know latest SEO updates 2017 essential to optimize websites, ensure better DA and high rankings in SERPs.

Largely, Google is centered around enhancing its web search administrations for online users, and by keeping a track of changes in Google’s Algorithm updates, marketers can increase ranking of their sites. Google has a long history of famous SEO algorithm updates that channelize ranking mechanism of SERPs.

To find latest Google SEO updates, marketers need to check latest updates of the following SEO algorithms-

10 Google SEO Updates & Algorithm Changes

1.) Google Hummingbird Update

Google Hummingbird SEO Update

         Introduced around August 2013, Google Hummingbird Update is Google’s new search algorithm that plays a significant role in deciding ranking of websites. It is made up of 200+ factors that can affect search results and website ranking. The biggest changes made in Hummingbird were capability to have a sharp eye on mobile marketing, which is not surprising at all given the explosion of the smart phones in recent years. The name ‘Hummingbird’ comes from its ability to be “precise and fast” and it is mainly designed to better focus on meaning of a phrase or keyword rather than individual keywords. Hummingbird looks at the entire phrase to decipher the meaning of that phrase. Google Hummingbird SEO updates aid pages matching the meaning do better in search results.

SEO new updates related to Hummingbird

• Application of meaning technology to billions of pages from across the web
• Use of Knowledge Graph facts to ensure better search results
• Easy recognition of Keyword stuffing
• Effectiveness of Long-tail keywords

2.)  Google Penguin Update

Google Penguin SEO update

Google propelled the Penguin Update in April 2012 to catch the websites that are spamming Google’s search results. This update is mainly aimed at decreasing search rankings of websites that violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and use black-hat SEO techniques to artificially increase ranking of their websites, by obtaining or buying links through some wrong practices. The primary reason behind this update was to penalize websites that use manipulative techniques for achieving high rankings.  As per Google’s estimates, Penguin influences approximately 3.1% of search queries in English, and approximately 3% of queries in languages like German, Arabic and Chinese, and an even much bigger percentage of them in “highly spammed” language categories. Pre-Penguin sites normally utilized some negative external link building tactics to rank good in SERPs and boost their traffics. However, once Penguin was introduced it implied that content was vital and those with incredible content would be recognized and those with little or spammy content would be punished.

3.) Google Panda Update

Google Panda SEO Update

Google’s Panda Update is acquainted in February 2011 and it is known as the powerful search filter implied to stop sites with low-quality content from making their way into top search results of Google. Panda is updated every once in a while. At the point when this happens, sites already hit; may get away, if then they have rolled out the correct improvements according to Panda updates. Through its different updates, Panda can likewise catch sites that got away some time recently. Google Panda was quite effective in affecting ranking of entire sites or a specific section rather than individual pages on a site.

Some important Google SEO updates according to Google Panda Update 2017 are

• No Multiple Pages with the Same Keyword
• Get Rid of Auto-generated Content and Roundup/Comparison Type of Pages
• No Pages with 1-2 Paragraphs of Text Only
• No Scraped Content
• Panda Likes New Content
• Be Careful with Affiliate Links and Ads
• Too Many Outbound Links with Keywords are bad

4.) Google Pigeon Update

Google Pigeon Update

Propelled on July 24, 2014 for U.S. English results, Google Pigeon Update” is another SEO algorithm update introduced to give more valuable, significant and exact local search results that are attached more closely to conventional web search ranking factors. Google said that this new SEO algorithm enhances their distance and location tracking parameters in more result-oriented manner. The changes made through Google Pigeon Update will also affect search results shown in Google Maps as this update lets Google provide search results based on the user location and listing at hand in the local directory. The main purpose behind introducing Google Pigeon Update is to provide preferences to local search results in SERPs and that is why this is extremely beneficial for local businesses. 

SEO Latest updates based on Google Pigeon Updates are

• Location Matters More Than Ever
• Don’t Over-Optimize Your Website
• Strong Domains Matter more

5.) Google Mobile-Friendly Update

Introduced On April 21, 2015, Google introduced its Mobile-Friendly search algorithm that is intended to give a lift to mobile friendly sites pages in Google’s mobile search results. The change is significant to the point that the date it happened is being alluded by a variety of names such as Mobilegeddon, Mobilepocalyse, Mopocalypse or Mobocalypse. One of the ideal approaches to get ready is to test that Google considers your site pages to be mobile friendly by utilizing its Mobile-Friendly Test tool. It is very effective in including approaches that bring more mobile-friendliness in SEO campaigns.

Latest Google Mobile-Friendly SEO updates are

• Google mobile-friendly testing tool now has API access
• Google may pick desktop over AMP page for the mobile-first index
• Google begins mobile-first indexing, using mobile content for all search rankings
• Google will show AMP URLs before App deep link URLs in mobile results
• Google says page speed ranking factor to use mobile page speed for mobile sites

6.) Google: Payday Update

Propelled on June 11, 2013, Google Payday Update was a new Google search algorithm focused at cleaning up list items related to “spammy queries” such as payday loans or pornographic or some other kinds of heavily spammed queries. It can be understood as a set of algorithm updates for the Google search engine results initiated to identify and penalize web sites that use different kinds of search engine spam techniques (also known as  Black Hat SEO or spamdexing) for improving their rankings for particular search queries that are actually “spammy”. Let’s have a look at some recent Google updates: 

Recent Google Payday updates are

• Google Payday Loan 1.0
• Google Payday Loan 2.0
• Google Payday Loan 3.0

7.) Google: Pirate Update

Pirate SEO Update

Introduced in August 2012, Google’s Pirate Update is a filter that prevents sites that have many copyright infringement reports, as documented through Google’s DMCA system. It is periodically updated and at the point when updates happen, websites beforehand affected may get away, if they have made the correct changes. It may likewise catch new websites that circumvented being caught recently; in addition, it may also release ‘false positives’ about those who were caught.

Some of the Google Pirate SEO latest updates-

• The Pirate Update Penalized Websites That Received A High Volume Of Copyright Violation Reports
• The Pirate Update Is A Win For Media And Artists
• Getting A Page Removed From The Index Requires Valid Documentation

8.) Google: EMD Update

Launched in September 2012, The EMD (Exact Match Domain) Update is a filter used by Google to impede low quality sites from positioning admirably just on the grounds that they had words that match search terms in their domains. At the point when a crisp EMD Update happens, sites that have enhanced their content may recover great rankings. New sites that comprise poor content or all those that were previously missed by Google EMD updates may get caught. Likewise, “false positives” may also get discharged.

 According to Matt Cutts, “EMD is set to reduce low-quality ‘exact-match’ domains in search results.”

 9.) Google: Top Heavy Update

Google Top Heavy update was propelled in January 2012 as a way to avoid sites that were “top heavy” with advertisements from positioning well in Google search listings. Top Heavy is updated repeatedly, and at the point when a Top Heavy Update occurs, websites that have evacuated extreme advertisements may recapture their lost rankings. New sites considered as “top heavy” may get caught again with new Top-heavy update.

Some of the Google Top Heavy SEO Updates

• Google Updates Its Page Layout Algorithm To Go After Sites “Top Heavy” With Ads
• Have The Same Ad-To-Organic Ratio As Google Search? Then You Might Be Safe From The Top Heavy Penalty
• The Top Heavy Update: Pages With Too Many Ads Above The Fold Now Penalized By Google’s “Page Layout” Algorithm

 10.) Google Page Rank Update

Google PageRank

On the off chance that you do SEO or are involved with search marketing, you will for sure come across Google Page Rank Topic eventually. Page Rank is Google’s arrangement of tallying link votes and figuring out which pages are most critical in view of them. These scores are then utilized alongside numerous other things to figure out whether a page will rank well in a search or not. However, some of the experts find Page Rank as a metric that is out of date and deprecated now and they suggest marketers to not waste time on them. Google came up with its Last Toolbar Page Rank Update in 5/6 December 2013 and thereafter it declared- “PageRank is something that we haven’t updated for over a year now, and we’re probably not going to be updating it again going forward, at least the Toolbar version.”

n addition to aforestated SEO updates, two others that you should pay heed upon are-

Fred Google SEO Update

This one was launched in March 8, 2017 and it regulates affiliate-heavy or ad-centered content. As one of the latest Google SEO Updates, Fred targets those sites that violate Google’s webmaster guidelines and include low-quality posts that are created with a single purpose to generate ad revenue. To adjust with this update, SEOers need to watch out for thin content and in case they need to show ads then they should make sure that the web pages include high-quality content with relevant and ample information.

Possum Google SEO Update

Google launched possum update in September 1, 2016 and it manages the competition in the target locations. This SEO update is dedicated to ensure that local results depend more on the searcher’s location that means the closer searchers are to a business’s address, the more likely they would be to see it among local results. For using this update to optimize SEO ranking, SEOers need to expand their keyword list and do location-specific rank tracking.

Once you are aware of all the Google search algorithm updates, the next step is to be in constant touch with top SEO resources to know all the latest Google SEO updates.

Following are the top 5 SEO resources for you to know all the latest Google SEO updates-

Top 5 resources to find latest Google SEO Updates

1.) Moz

Moz

Moz is considered as one of the principal sites SEO professionals ought to take after to know all the latest Google SEO updates. Moz was begun in the year 2004, and from that point forward, it has been administering the SEO business. From  Beginner’s Search Engine Guides, to Mozinars to latest Google SEO updates, there is no better place for SEO updates than Moz. It is additionally one of the wealthiest assets of best SEO tools and related Google SEO updates.

2.) Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land

Without a doubt, Search Engine Land is a standout amongst the most prominent SEO resources on web that covers every one of the points identified with search marketing. Search Engine Land would be the first place to break Google SEO updates and to stay updated with best SEO updates; you should take after their web journals. It is also the best place to know recent search algorithm updates, breaking stories, search industry patterns and related changes.

3.) Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal

Propelled in 2003, Search Engine Journal is one of the best search marketing resources to know latest Google SEO updates. It lets you know all the Google updates for SEO. It is highly recommendable for marketers to follow Search Engine Journal to know search algorithm updates and related practices that will optimize your SEO campaigns, and aid you increase traffic of your websites. This is the best place to figure out vital SEO patterns, techniques, and latest SEO news.

4.) Webmaster World

Webmaster World for SEO

Take after Webmaster World to get a portion of the best search engine tips and latest Google SEO updates. Webmaster World is one of the best SEO resources that lets marketers learn all the aspects of search engine marketing in the most comprehensive manner. Latest Google updates for SEO provided by Webmaster World are well informative and highly trusted as it is one of the oldest and most reputed places to know accurate and authentic news and trends of web marketing. 

5.) Search Engine Watch

Search Engine Watch

Search Engine Watch is known as one of the best SEO assets to learn SEO and know all the Google latest update in SEO. It includes a portion of the best SEO tips and tricks, and in the event that you wish to know latest Google SEO updates that can enhance optimization of your website, SEW will guide you with some of the best practical examples and latest SEO news. It is closest companion of search marketers who wish to enhance capacity of their SEO campaign and helps them ensure better ranking in Search Engine Result Pages.