Google Algorithm Changes: What You Need to Know

by | Feb 26, 2021 | Blog

Google is the most popular search engine in the world. It has over 70% market share and is the way many of us access information online. With an estimated 550,000 new websites are created every single day, Google has an incredibly important job at filtering these.

Otherwise known as crawling and indexing, Google will search for new web pages and add them to the list of its known web pages. Its job then, is to understand exactly what the page is about. Once Google understands the context of the page it utilises its intelligent algorithm to mark it against other web pages and related searches, to determine where it should rank.

To understand more about Google rankings, you can read our previous blog.

Why Does Google Change the Algorithm?

Algorithm Shapes

To maintain its status as most popular search engine, Google must regularly update its algorithm to ensure it’s producing the very best results for its users. The updates are completed roughly every quarter.

The reason for the changes to the Google algorithm is for them to ensure they are delivering the ultimate user experience. It’s main goal is for the user to find the exact information they are searching for.

With these changes, it’s not uncommon for businesses to wonder how it will affect the ranking of their website.

As it’s impossible for anyone to predict what the updates to the Google algorithm will be, it can raise the question “How can I make sure my website ranks?”

The most recent update was completed on December 17th 2020. If you reviewed your website following this and have experience a decline in your ranking, there may be a straightforward reason for this.

Why your Ranking may be Impacted.

Ranking

There are a couple of reasons why you may see a decline in your rankings.

  1. The content on your website is old and outdated.

How to combat this:

Consider refreshing your website regularly with new content. This can be new projects you have worked on. New products you’re selling or changes to your services.

  1. Google has found more up-to-date, relevant content on the same topic.

Even if you have posted content recently, there’s a chance that someone has already posted an updated version. This could be as simple as new data. If your content is very similar to others online, The Google algorithm will rank the one that’s most up to date.

How to combat this:

Use your own data and findings as much as possible as opposed to online research. Produce evergreen content but check the facts and information of this every 6-12 months to ensure they are still relevant.

Do I need to Worry if my Rankings have Declined?

Decline in Rankings

Unless there’s a clear reason why your ranking has declined as a result of the algorithm changes, not really.

Google themselves stated “There’s nothing wrong with pages that may perform less well in a core update. The changes are about improving how our systems assess content overall”.

The advice from Google is to focus on the content you are producing. If you align your goals with Googles – to provide the very best user experience. Then you’re on the right tracks.

The best way to combat the updates in the Google algorithm is to focus on content.

To ensure you’re creating quality content, here’s some questions you can ask:
  • Does the content contain original information, data or research?
  • Does the content draw from other sources (links), while adding value to these?
  • Is the headline relevant to the content, can the user understand what the content will be about?
  • Does the content serve the genuine interest of visitors to the site, rather than existing solely to rank well with search engines?

 

If you need help producing content for your website, we can help. Our team of expert copywriters and SEO gurus are on hand to boost your rankings!

Contact us today.