In the world of SEO, the only constant is change. It has been reported that Google changes its algorithm of search around six hundred to five hundred times every year. While the majority of the updates may be small, SEO and users do not pick these even though Google lets out significant updates. Over the last two years, everyone saw almost nine significant updates happening to the algorithm. Almost daily, Google releases several changes to the ranking algorithm it has. Some may be in the form of tiny tweaks, while others shake the SERPs seriously. Here is a cheat sheet that helps to make sense of the crucial algo penalties and changes that Google rolled out.
Did any of the changes in traffic correlate with the updates of Google? In this article, you find out about each update and ways you can adjust.
1. Panda launched on February 24, 2011
The hazards an update like Panda cannot tolerate are keyword stuffing, user-generated spam, thin, duplicate, or plagiarized content.
The way it works: Panda assigns a very definitive “quality score” to the web pages; you can then use this score as the ranking factor. This update will mostly strike you as Panda evaluates websites based on content quality. Pages with the content of high quality get higher positions of ranks, vice versa. It eventually boils down to how good one is with the optimization on-page.
What sets off the Panda?
Panda gets triggered by low-quality content, especially text that has been poorly formatted with multiple grammatical errors, distracting images, or huge designs affecting the experience of the users. So anything that you are suspecting on and has the potential of rubbing the users in the wrong way is going to cost you.
Untrustworthy and unhelpful content
Google does not tolerate con artistry or incompetence; hence, you need to strive for being a positive force.
Article spinning and duplicate content
Rewriting the text from any other site or copying text chunks is an actionable offense under Panda. Reusing the book and then passing that text off as original work, hampers the site’s quality.
How can you recover?
Are you sure that the google SEO update Panda has hit your site? Then the only action course is improving the quality of the content. When pages require more work, overhaul them. Remove everything that offends the users, the algorithm, and put things that deserve approval.
2. Google Penguin launched on April 24, 2012
Things that trigger the Penguin have to be: anchor text links that have been over-optimized, irrelevant, or spammy links. The text inside the backlinks is a factor that affects the link profile’s quality. If the version happens to be the same everywhere, Google will quickly understand that you are trying to manipulate the rankings. Penguin penalizes for using the keywords unnaturally and stuffing them.
How can you recover?
If there are problems in the department of backlinks, then you must dig through the ones that you possess. The easiest way of dealing with this is by scanning the website with a tool that checks backlink quality. An SEO company helps you by reducing the number of keywords until text appears natural everywhere.
3. Hummingbird launched on August 22, 2013
Content of low quality and keyword stuffing triggers Hummingbird. It is Hummingbird that began the semantic search era. Hummingbird aids Google to interpret the queries of search better and provide results that match the intent of the searcher. It makes it possible for pages to rank for queries even if it is devoid of the exact words that any searcher enters. The update achieves this because of the processing of the natural language that is reliant on latent semantic indexing and co-occurring synonyms.
How can you recover?
Expand the focus on the concepts and research of keywords, not keywords. You must carefully research the searches that are research-related, co-occurring terms, and synonyms. Such ideas with great sources are Google Autocomplete and pursuits, which are Google related.
4. Pigeon launched on July 24, 2014
Pigeon affects especially those searches in which the location of the user plays an essential part. This update thus created ties closer between the core algorithm and the local algorithm. Traditional factors of SEO are used now for ranking the local results. Off-page and poor on-page SEO triggers the Pigeon.
How can you recover?
For the google SEO update Pigeon, you must invest efforts into off-page and on-page SEO. A high point of starting is running an on-page analysis with the Website Auditor. The dashboard of content analysis will give a great idea about on-page optimization aspects that you must concentrate on. The best way to begin with SEO off-page is getting listed on the relevant directories of business.
5. Rankbrain launched on October 26, 2015
Poor UX, shallow content, and the shortage of relevant features that do not query-specific trigger the Rankbrain. It is an integral part of the algorithm of Google’s Hummingbird. This is a system of machine learning that aids Google in comprehending the meaning that each query has. Google has called Rankbrain its third-most important factor of ranking. It identifies all relevant features to rank the web pages for any given query.
How can you recover?
Optimize the comprehensiveness and relevance by taking the assistance of competitive analysis. With the help of the TF-IDF tool from the website auditor, you can quickly discover the relevant concepts and terms that top-ranking competitors are using.
6. Possum Launched on September 1, 2016
Tense competition in target locations triggers Possum. An update of Possum ensured that the local results differ more based on the location of the searcher.
How can you recover?
Expand the list of keyword and conduct location-specific tracking of rank. Local businesses need to target keywords compared to what they once used to, because of volatility that Possum brought into local SERPs. From the target location of yours, check the rankings.
7. Fred launched on March 8, 2017
Ad-centered content, thin or affiliate heavy content triggers Fred. Fred is known to target those websites that violate the webmaster guidelines of Google.
How can you recover?
Review the quality guidelines of Google search and do watch out for the thin content. If you are showing ads, make sure all the pages you are displaying advertisements on must offer ample and relevant, high-quality information.
