The Ultimate Google Algorithm Cheat Sheet
Have you ever wondered why Google keeps pumping out algorithm updates?
Do you understand what Google algorithm changes are all about?
No SEO or content marketer can accurately predict what any future update will look like. Even some Google employees don’t understand everything that’s happening with the web’s most dominant search engine.
But think about it like this: Search engines are built to serve people.
People change. Plain and simple.
And as our behavior changes, technology evolves to keep up with our wants and needs.
So, search engines have to change too.
For example, a decade ago, we didn’t have social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to help funnel traffic to our sites.
We also didn’t think twice about mobile traffic or best practices for reaching searchers that were on the move because those millions of searchers didn’t exist.
Fast forward to present day where marketing trends seem to change overnight. New tools and technology emerge at a moment’s notice.
Because of this, Google regularly tweaks how they treat rankings, links, and especially content in the wake of these rapid changes.
But at the core of Google’s algorithm changes is a simple goal: provide the best user experience possible.
Given that Google handles over 2 trillion searches per year (that’s about 40,000 every second), even the smallest changes to their algorithm can have a massive impact on any given site.
Your site, my site, you name it.
And content marketers have a lot to keep up with when you consider the 200 ranking factors outlined by Google.
Yes, two hundred.
There are some factors which are effectively out of our control, such as the ages of our sites and domain names.
However, many of these ranking factors are within our control. These are mostly related to unique content, on-page optimization, and choice of links. Essentially, we do have a hand in how Google treats our sites’ search rankings.
Simply put, sites that stay on Google’s good side are more likely to rank. Those who try to play the system suffer punishment in one way or another.
Thankfully, Google is fairly transparent about how they can help sites rank. On the flip side, there are some “hidden” aspects of Google’s algorithm updates that can hit unsuspecting sites.
And that’s exactly why I’ve created this in-depth guide.
Google has issued five major algorithm updates, named (in chronological order) Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon, and Fred. In between these major updates, Google engineers also made some algorithm tweaks that weren’t heavily publicized but still may have had an impact on your website’s rankings in the search results.
Below, I’ve broken down each and every one of the major Google algorithm changes piece by piece.
Worried that you might be doing something wrong in the eyes of Google?
Want to know how to bounce back from a penalty?
You’ve come to the right place.
Google Algorithms and Why They Change
Before you can fully understand the impact of each individual search algorithm update, you need to have a working knowledge of what a search engine algorithm is all about.
The word “algorithm” refers to the logic-based, step-by-step procedure for solving a particular problem.
In the case of a search engine, the problem is “how to find the most relevant webpages for this particular set of keywords (or search terms).”
The algorithm is how Google finds, ranks, and returns the relevant results.
Google is the #1 search engine on the web and it got there because of its focus on delivering the best results for each search.
From the beginning, in a bid to improve its ability to return those right answers quickly, Google began updating its search algorithm, which in turn changed – sometimes drastically – the way it delivered relevant results to search users.
"our goal is to get you the exact answer you’re searching for faster...Ben Gomes, Google’s Vice-President of Engineering
As a result of these changes in the algorithm, many sites were penalized with lower rankings while other sites experienced a surge in organic traffic and improved rankings.
Some brief history: Algorithm changes can be major or minor. Most of them, however, are minor.
In 2014, Google made approximately 500 changes to the algorithm. After each of those tweaks, a large number of sites lost their rankings.
Ten years earlier, in February 2004, Google issued the Brandy update.
A major algorithm change, Brandy’s major focal points were increased attention on link anchor texts and something called “Latent Semantic Indexing” – basically, looking at other pages on the same site to evaluate whether they contain the search terms, in addition to the indexed page.
Eventually, Google’s focus shifted to keyword analysis and intent, rather than solely looking at the keyword itself.
Going back even further, Google made a number of changes in 2000, including the launch of the Google toolbar and a significant tweak known as "Google Dance."
However, as far as SEO’s impact on business websites is concerned, those updates didn’t have much impact on search results.
If you want to be up-to-date on these algorithm changes, you can review the entire history of Google’s algorithm changes.
Google needs large volumes of data to be able to make better decisions for any rank tracker. The more relevant results people get when they search for a specific keyword, the more accurate the data that Google can extract and return for other searchers.
That’s why these changes have also impacted mobile search results.
As I already pointed out, Google wants to do good by their users.
They want their search results to make sense, and the job of their algorithm is to reward the sites in the SERPs that deliver what users want.
After all, the company’s focus on user experience is exactly why they won the search engine wars against competitors such as Yahoo!, Lycos, and Bing.
Google also prides themselves on being the “good guy” of the Internet, and their search algorithm confirms this.
The company’s old corporate motto of “Don’t be evil” is a stark warning for sites who try to game their system.
When we look at some key search algorithm changes over the years, it’s clear how Google’s desire to do good shines through.
Perhaps the most obvious example of Google altering their algorithm to assist users was the phenomenon of exact match domains a few years back.
In the not-so-distant past, the top results in the SERPs were brimming with spammy sites like “BestCoffeeShopSeattle.com.” Sites like this often outranked branded domains (think: Starbucks) or other more relevant results.
Sites like these were the bread and butter of affiliate marketers, often subject to keyword stuffing and other shady search tactics.
Deciding enough was enough, Google decided to put their foot down.
Long story short, Google punished spammy exact match sites. The result of their algorithm change looks something like this when we search for "best coffee shop Seattle:"
No spam, just real results for actual coffee shops. That’s Google’s algorithm at work.
Sure, it’s a bit scary to think that Google could potentially wreak havoc on your rankings at any given moment on a whim, right?
But it is necessary considering their objective of delivering the best user experience possible.
I’ve helped clients and friends in the past with algorithm penalties and have seen firsthand what happens when Google comes down hard on a site.
Trust me, it’s not pretty.
But don’t think of these algorithms as twisting your arm. The best long-term search strategy for anyone looking for traffic (even me!) is to align themselves with Google’s goals.
The better you understand the history of Google’s algorithms, the more likely you are to run a site that ranks well.
In next article, we’ll focus on five major Google search algorithm changes. Each of these updates had and continues to have, a significant impact on search engine marketing, on-page SEO, and your site’s overall content strategy for best search results. Specifically, we’ll discuss:
- The Panda update
- The Penguin update
- The Hummingbird update
- The Pigeon update
- The Fred update
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