Google Algorithms: How they are Changing the SEO Industry
“Google only loves you when everyone else loves you first.”
Wendy Piersall
This is a motto that marketers around the world must understand and then incorporate into their digital marketing strategies. This is just how Google works. The company believes in making the user the hero of the story— something that all businesses should do.
Google is predominantly the entire search market because they control more than 90% of the industry. The engine processes around 40,000 queries EVERY SECOND! This translates to a staggering 3.5 billion searches every day. Having these many users and still catering to their demands effectively is challenging, and this is why Google is ever evolving. One of the primary ways in which they achieve this is through the search algorithm embedded beneath the platform.
What Is a Google algorithm?
The Google algorithm is a framework defined by the masterminds behind the scene. This program analyzes the keywords entered by a user and matches it to relevant content all over the internet. The results are displayed within milliseconds, and the rate is displayed at the top of each page. A Google algorithm is basically the systems that control this entire operation. Given the number of queries that the platform receives, there is no doubt that this framework has to be top notch. This usually means that it has to be updated on a regular basis.
The Frequency of Upgrades
It is estimated that Google upgrades its algorithm around 500-600 times a year. Most of these upgrades are minor tweaks to the way the framework handles queries from users, but every now and then, there are major upgrades that impact the way digital marketing, especially Huntsville SEO, is executed. The frequency of these major upgrades is almost annually as the trend given below indicates:
- Panda: 2011,
- Penguin: 2012,
- Hummingbird: 2013,
- Pigeon: 2014,
- Mobile: 2015,
- RankBrain: 2015,
- Possum: 2016,
- Fred:
The observant viewer who is old enough might have noticed how the Google search results page has evolved. It used to be a rather dull layout with search results appearing as a list and nothing else. However, today the search results page looks like a Caribbean Carnival with so many snippets and colors every time a query is entered.
Significance of the Changes Made
This shift in interface has been achieved through Google’s use of Search Engine Result Pages or SERP’s. Google no longer looks for keywords and matches them to texts; it uses the latest technologies to match the query to relevant images, news, videos, and much more. This is achieved through an effective use of SEO elements and sophisticated computer programs to help the system identify more relevant content to display for the users. The result is a much more diversified experience, and the success of the features is evident through the market share dominance that Google holds over its competitors.
What’s in the New Algorithm?
Huntsville website services understand how Google algorithms have changed over the years. The latest in a long line of upgrades is the use of artificial intelligence. This state of the art technique allows the algorithm to fill in vital information between phrases and keywords entered by a user. This results in Google results being more effective and identifying exactly what a user might be looking for.
How SEO Has to Adapt?
Google has been doing its job quite effectively, but the same can’t always be said about digital marketers, especially the ones handling search engine optimization. Huntsville custom websites have to implement the latest elements that hold importance to Google. This makes sure that the algorithm identifies the relevant website based on the meaningfulness of its content. Today, there is no getting around the algorithm by stuffing an article with relevant keywords. The game is all about delivering quality content.
Search Engine Optimization can adapt to the new techniques in a number of ways. First of all, there are two broad categories of SEO, i.e., on-page and off-page optimization. The relevant sub-sections of each are given below:
- On-page:
- This includes keywords, headings, taglines, meta descriptions, etc. Moreover, Google doesn’t just stop there. It’s algorithm also looks for website load speeds, responsiveness and internal links. All these factors combined allow a website to be ranked in the first page of search results,
- Off-page:
- The factors that contribute to this are organically achieved back links (yes, Google knows that too!), social media linked accounts, and the presence of visual content. Together these form the foundations of what allows Google to pick your website apart from millions of others.
Huntsville web design professionals understand the intricacies of how the new algorithm works. Marketers have to work on creating quality content that adds value to the knowledge of the reader. This is the only way that their content can get ranked higher by Google.
The importance of this ranking can be effectively emphasized by quoting two simple statistics. The first is the percentage of clicks that the first five links on Google receive, i.e., 67%. The second is that a resounding 90% of people don’t go past the first page. This means that if you’re anywhere beyond the first page, your visibility is limited to only 10% of the whole audience.
Conclusion
Huntsville SEO services provide extensive solutions to cater to all the needs of a business. The professionals understand how the algorithm works and how content can be tweaked to make it more relevant to the respective target audience. This is important because in order to receive a high ranking from Google, it is essential that users are paying attention to your content. This is shown through organic shares and back links to the content on your website.
IG Webs – Web Design, SEO Content Services, Website Management & More! Give Us a Call for A Free Quote Today!
We provide responsive websites, mobile websites and website management from start-ups to medium large businesses across the nation. At IG Webs, success means a website that presents the client’s business and ideas in an interesting and effective manner. Website Design, Local Marketing, SEO Content Services, Website Management, E-Commerce and more! Call us today or use our free quote form – Allow us to quote you a price and get started on your project. You’ll be glad you did!
