Google Updates – Types of Google Algorightm Updates

 

Google is undoubtedly the best search engine in the world of internet. It provides a platform for numerous organizations for writing their own sets of algorithms. The Google algorithm consists of a set of instructions or protocol, rules, and expressions which help in ranking a page on Google. In case you are a blogger or a website developer then you require keeping a track of updates made to this algorithm so that you don’t fall into any pitfall which may result in lowering of your rank on Google.

However, every year there are so many updates released by Google that it becomes difficult for the people to keep a track of them. But these changes are done by Google to prevent spammers from producing irrelevant content as well as stopping the Black Hats from adopting unethical ways of website rank boosting.

The changes made to the algorithm of Google are minor however each year there are around 400-500 updates released. Also, within a span of a few months, some significant changes are made to the algorithm which should definitely be kept track of. Some of the popular updates released lately are the Penguin update, Panda Update, Pigeon Update and so on.

Today I will discuss the most recent updates issued by the Google and we will see what changes have been offered in the same.

Types of Google Updates

1Google Panda

Google Panda update was launched in the year 2011 and was primarily based on the user experience offered by a website. It measured the width of the sites and the sites which were thin and lacked depth were ranked below those which were updated regularly as well as offered considerable depth. Also, the websites which offered low user experience were given a lower priority while those giving higher levels of utility were ranked above. This update was launched as a response to growing levels of commercialisation against user experience.

With the launch of this update, the trend of content marketing grew, and people became more engaged in the trends such as guest blogging and social media promotions.

2Google Penguin Update

Google Penguin Update was first seen in the year 2012 and was launched as a measure to the black hat methods of link building. This update over the years has seen numerous changes, and there has been quite a success in stopping these methods of artificial rank boosting. Through this update, Google targeted numerous manipulative techniques used by so-called SEO experts for link building. They used to buy links, build thin websites just to get a backlink to the main site, comment spamming, etc.

For countering these measures, Google came out with a plan and the site owners were required to know the link profile of their sites. They were responsible for identifying the volume, source and quality of the links those were inbound to their sites. If Google detects any issues with regards to the link profile, then the site owners are required to audit their entire link profile and remove any poor links present on their site.

3Humming Bird Update

This update tends to bring together everything that has been tried in Penguin and Panda update of Google Algorithm. This update, which was announced in the year 2013, tends to provide a special attention on the importance of searching through mobile. This focuses on mobile responsive design and hence rank pages based on the same. It has been told and argued upon that the people visit a website through numerous devices and hence your website should be created keeping in mind the usage through smartphones. Importance tips for optimizing your blog for mobile users.

Also, apart from this, with this update, Google not only search on the basis of relevant keywords (proper keyword researching for your blog) but also displays results by interpreting and establishing a connection between the terms written in the search box.

This update has been known as the evolution of both the technology as well as Google. With people now using their mobiles to search for content, they tend to perform a search in a way that we ask questions, and hence Google with this update has tried to meet their expectations.

4Google Pigeon Update

This update, which was launched in July 2014, focussed primarily upon the local search results. It improved the level of accuracy as well as the specificity offered. It offers user results based upon the local proximity. This update was launched to redefine the world of browsing. With the integration of this new update, the search results offered would be returning better results based on the location from which the search is made as well as a bit outside the local area. This update allowed for an increased level of priority for local businesses and hence people began integrating keywords of location for example- Red Fort Delhi to list their location on Google. There has been some spamming noticed however, this has clearly been a thumb for local businessmen as well as bloggers.

Conclusion

With the release of each of these updates, there are surely some or the other websites which might be losing their traffic. So in case you are one of the people who have suffered a major setback in the levels of traffic then surely you might have been affected by one or more changes in the algorithm. What you need to do is find out which update has affected the level of traffic on your site and then you can work on the measures to avoid any penalty. There have been numerous tools developed online which will help you figure out what has caused the level of traffic to go down and hence you can work towards making appropriate changes to avoid penalty.