Algorithms are continuously changing.
So when someone asks “How can I get my site to rank well” or some variation on this question there really is no good answer because the algorithms have various requirements. Sure back in the 1990’s it was pretty easy. You just picked your keywords and made sure they appeared on your home page “x” number of times and that you had actually inserted meta tags into the HTML mark up of your website. Then you would ask a few dozen people to visit your a few times a day for the next few days after registering on Google. Then if you were lucky you were in the top fifty. But back in those days you only had to deal with one Google algorithm and it rarely ever changed.
Beginning in 2003 things would start to change.
Google has never been Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly. When you submit a site you actually agree to not engage in SEO practices. But we all know we are not going to sit and not attempt to rank well on Google. But this is one of the reasons that Google keeps tweaking it’s algorithm. Mid 2010 the Caffeine algorithm was introduced and it began continuously crawling and updating Google’s web index. So now if you requested a re-crawl of your site you no longer knew when it would take place.
The Panda algorithm was added in early 2011 to combat advertisement heavy sites. A year later the Penguin algorithm is added into the mix. Penguin is aimed directly at keyword SEO and back links. Suddenly all of the old rules to up your site ranking are tossed aside in just fourteen months. So all anyone needs to figure out is what are the new SEO rules, right? By the time anyone could figure this out Google released Hummingbird in mid 2013. Hummingbird is a completely new core search algorithm.
Now we have three algorithms that are being updated every few months making it difficult to figure out how to tweak SEO to improve site ranking. Then Google drops one more algorithm into the mix. Mid 2014 Pigeon is introduced to handle local searches with it’s own ranking rules. Before things settle down in early 2015 Google decides that it will be mobile device friendly. So if your site meets mobile criteria your ranking with get a nice bump. 2016 sees the Possum algorithm added to handle Google’s “My Business” listings. This addition created major changes in site rankings.
All of these algorithms are updated multiple times daily according to Google.
Only major updates are actually announced. So with Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon, and Possum continuously being tweaked no one can truly know which algorithm changed or how it impacted your site ranking. Because even if you make changes to your web site there is no way to know when the Caffeine algorithm decides to take a fresh look at your site. Additionally each year the number of announced updates to any of Google’s algorithms increases. Typically only major ranking upsets tend to get noticed by the public.
How it looks now in 2020
Now we are up to eight major algorithms. Some of the algorithms had changed a bit bit in there focus. Panda now focuses on checking for content duplication, thin content and keyword stuffing. Penguin checks for “spam links” or irrelevant links; links with over-optimized anchor text. Hummingbird focuses on keyword stuffing; low-quality content especially in mobile searches. Pigeon ties the local algorithm and the core algorithm together providing local businesses better results. Mobile (aka Mobilegeddon) ensures that mobile-friendly pages rank at the top of mobile search, while pages not optimized for mobile are filtered out of the search results. RankBrain is part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm and it is a machine learning system. Very little is actually know about how RankBrain works. Possum works with Pigeon to optimize local search results. Fred targets websites that violate Google’s webmaster guidelines. This has to do with thin content and heavy advertising on site pages. If you show ads, make sure the pages they are found on are high-quality web sites. The other site should offer relevant content with ample information relating back to the content on your site which included the link.
What changes have happened in 2020?
Several major “core” updates have shaken up search results dramatically. The first update occurred in mid January and was a “global core” which impacted all searches in all languages and all geographic locations. This update was “rolled” out over a one week period. This was the largest change since the August 2018 “medic” update.
The next minor change with a large impact for some was also in January when Google altered how “featured snippets” would be treated. These had been considered as organic content. This change would drastically impact the organic search result rankings of many sites.
On February 13th there was another massive change in Google search results and site rankings. This has been dubbed the “Unnamed Update” because Google has never confirmed that they made any significant changes. Many speculate that Google had simply rolled back a series of changes to multiple algorithms from the previous week.
March saw the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic. This had a huge effect on Google’s search results and site rankings. While not an actual update to any of Google’s algorithms it has had a major impact.
The latest official Google update was on May 4th. This was a “broad core” update which significantly altered all search results once again.
July/August
It is currently speculated that Google is phasing out the accelerated mobile page (AMP) preference in it’s mobile search results. AMP pages have long been abused by phishing scams, hackers, the generation of phishing e-mails, and bait-and-switch web sites.
So what can you do to rank well on Google?
Write your own content. Google loves original content so avoid copying from others. If you need to quote another source this fine just be certain to place it in quotation marks. It would also be a good idea to provide a link to the source you are quoting. Keywords are still important and your page or post title should contain your keyword or phrase. Headings are also important. Especially your first heading on the page which should contain your keyword. Most importantly don’t be verbose, instead get to the point.
Google wants to answer the readers question.
Focus on providing answers. Think up possible search questions for your keyword or phrase and provide answers to those questions.
These simple rules have always been a part of Google SEO and there is no reason for this to change. Yes, I could give you a list of mark up guidelines about how your page title should be in Heading one and then the first line should be in heading two. But “rules” such as suggested word count between headings are all a part of the endlessly changing SEO “rules”. By the time you could re-write all of the content on your site these “rules” would most likely have changed. So please do not waste your time. Instead focus on creating your own unique content.
By R. A. Ross | August 04, 2020
The date is when this post was revised.