Are you searching for a way to explore and understand Google algorithms in detail?”
Don’t worry; you are not alone in this boat!
When starting in the content writing industry, most individuals don’t have a clue about this or how algorithms work.
Learning about them in simple terms is an efficient way of becoming a professional content writer quickly. Every leading content writing agency looks for writers who keep in mind these algorithms while writing.
Through this blog, we will help you perceive the approach of distinct Google algorithms in short. We will go through how these major updates works, reasons for their introduction and their impact on online website content.
All the major Google Algorithm Updates
According to Google, they update the search algorithms several thousand times a year. Most of these are small enough that most web developers don’t notice them. However, every once in a while, they have introduced changes so monumental that they changed the basics of SEO.
Now let’s take a look at this list of major search engine algorithms!
Panda algorithm was one of the first major updates from Google
Pandas are fat and fluffy animals that don’t pose any threat to others and primarily feed on bamboos.
However, the irony lies in the fact that although being ‘fat’, this algorithm catches ‘thin’ contents, be it an article, webpage, or blog writing.
Initially released back in February 2011, this update was previously known as ‘Farmer.’ The sole purpose of this algorithm is rewarding high-quality content/websites and eliminating those from Google’s SERPs that have sub-standard content. Thus, many companies opt for professional writers for their website content development as they can create top-notch materials.
Seizing plagiarised, duplicate or thin content is what Panda does best. Moreover, it also stops user-generated spam and also content with keyword stuffing.
So, original SEO articles are a must!
To every web page, this algorithm adds a ‘quality score’, which is essential for SERP ranking. Though rolled out as a filter to the ranking algorithm, Google incorporated this update into the core algorithm in January 2016.
Penguin update for chasing away manipulative links
Donning a black tuxedo, the Penguin algorithm prevents Black-Hat SEO techniques!
It is an update that every leading content writing agency is careful about.
Penguin was released just over a year after the Panda algorithm. In April 2012, as soon as this update went live, it started catching sites with irrelevant or spammed links along with contents that had unnecessary links within anchor texts.
The objective of this algorithm is to decrease a site rank if the links presented are deemed manipulative. This update helped Google eliminate sites that spammed their way into SERPs, bringing an end to all low-effort link building sites, link farms and PBNs.
Top Heavy Update for us who hate advertisements
“Like us humans, Google also doesn’t like too many advertisements.”
We hate going through tons of advertisements before reaching the actual content, and so does Google; hence came the Top Heavy Update.
After receiving numerous complaints, Google decided to prevent sites from ranking high in their SERP that displayed too many ads before the actual content.
This update soon became one of the most favoured Google algorithms for providing a superior user experience. Now websites had to take into account a site’s domain authority while creating backlinks and use the disavow tool to reduce risks of getting penalised by Google.
PageRank helps in ranking sites based on quality links
PageRank checks the quality of outbound links that comes into an article, blog writing, or any other webpage. This way, it determines the page’s importance based on these links and ranks them accordingly.
This algorithm primarily acts as a ranking system through which every website gets a place on the search engine results page.
Pigeon for delivering location-based results
Google Pigeon soars up in the sky and brings you search results that are location-oriented.
It was launched in July 2014 and returned those results where a user’s location plays a crucial role. It bonded the local and core algorithm; traditional SEO articles and adequate keywords helps to rank results based on location these days.
It affects a website if there is poor off and on-page SEO. Hence, a top content writing agency offers ideal content development for search engine optimisation through proper location-based keywords.
Pirate penalises copyright violation.
The Google Pirate update says ‘Ahoy matey!’ and makes all websites ‘walk the plank’ that infringe copyright.
Confused? Don’t be!
In simple words, unlike other Google algorithms, it penalises sites that receive copyright violation reports in high volume. This update punishes every site with this issue and lowers their rank as much as possible. Hence, remarkable and fresh SEO article writing is what every website needs from a professional content writing agency.
Payday makes spammy sites pay!
“Payday is a happy time for us; however, Google’s algorithm makes spam links and sites pay heavily by ranking them in the lowest position.”
It is a distinct set of algorithm update; the primary purpose is identifying and punishing sites that manipulate search engine results using spam techniques for improving rank and increasing traffic as well.
So, companies hire professionals for website content development to avoid getting hit by Payday.
Rank Brain the A.I. of Google.
“Similar to our brain, Rank Brain helps Google to understand the meaning behind every search or query.”
Latest algorithm updates are the reason why you get the best matching results against your queries, and Rank Brain is the vital one. In October 2015, this came into effect and removed shallow content as well as eliminated poor user experience. It is somewhat of artificial intelligence which tries to understand the need of the users for a better experience.
Moreover, for having the best-written content, various organisations opt for assistance from a leading content writing agency.
All updates are a part of the Hummingbird algorithm.
Will a car run without its parts? The answer is NO!
In the same way, Hummingbird is the car, and without the other Google algorithms that are a part of it, it cannot run.
This comprehensive update was aimed to remove keyword stuffing and low-quality content entirely. The update made foundational changes to how Google interprets search queries and provides results. With the help of NLP (Natural Language Processing) and LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing), Google could now rank a page based on the context of a query without requiring an exact keyword.
Other new changes- BERT and Core Updates
In recent years, Google has developed its NLP (natural language processing) technology to the point where it can understand search queries.
Wait, so Google is a human now?
Well, if it’s not, it certainly getting there. With the latest updates in 2019, Google can interpret the text in search queries and identify entities and their relationship. Hence, Google can understand more nuances in search queries and results. With this, Google has the capacity to reward actual good writing.
Another mysterious series of updates has risen on the horizon known as ‘Google core updates’. Started in 2017, this is a series of small updates and improvements tied together. Unfortunately, Google has not disclosed much information about them.
What do these changes mean for website owners and visitors?
All of these changes work together to provide the best and relevant results for users, something Google has been perfecting over the years. For website developers, these changes meant they had to come up with new ways to provide valuable content for users. With these updates, Google has effectively removed low quality, plagiarised and irrelevant content and links from appearing on top of search results.
Every content writing agency should be well versed with the features of these Google algorithms.
Be it an article or a blog, you should always keep these updates in mind before venturing on your writing adventure. These are crucial to know and understand for any content writer, as having complete knowledge will assist them in developing content that ranks higher in Google’s SERP.
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