“Nothing is permanent” has now got a new inspiration from Google’s regular updates. Well, we can not blame Google for this. Can we? A regular update in Google’s algorithm is crucial for enhancing the search experience of the user, which otherwise could lead to a bad user experience.
However, it is also true that new algorithm updates after every few months keep SEO experts on their feet. It is due to the fact that every update brings considerable change to the search engine result pages, which is a matter of concern for every website.
This blog aims to educate you about Google updates spanning from the year 2022 to 2023 (Q2). Having the knowledge of these significant updates will help you optimize your website for better ranking and credibility.
Let’s Begin,
Google Algorithm Updates from the Year 2022 to the Present
Updates for August 22, 2023- Core Update
The August 2023 update, launched on August 22, aims to make search results better. It looks at many types of content worldwide and rewards good web pages. Some rankings changed when it started, and features like Google Discover can be affected too.
Brief Information About 22 August 2023 Core Update:
- Name: August 2023 Google Broad Core Update
- Launched: August 22, 2023
- Rollout: Rollout is expected to complete within one to two weeks’ timeframe
- Targets: Its target will be on all types of content
- Penalty: This update is not considered as a penalty, it will promote or rewards great web pages
- Global: A global update impacting all regions and all languages.
- Recover: If your website were hit with this update, then you will need to check out your content from quality perspective and ensure that SEO strategies align with Core updates .
Approach to follow – If your rankings dropped because of the August 2023 update, here’s what you can do. Check your content using Google’s advice. Make your pages better based on what they suggest. Be patient, as things might change in the next two weeks. Keep watching your rankings and improving your content to match the update.
Updates for April 12, 2023- Reviews Update
The Update- Google, on 12 April 2023, rolled out the Product Review Update. This review aimed at encouraging SEO experts and marketers to create a high-quality review (content) that satisfies E-E-A-T attributes. The review created should provide in-depth research and analysis on the topic.
Approach to follow –The review is written to provide analysis, opinion and suggestions to the readers. To write a review that clicks with your readers and Google algorithms, make sure that your review is well-researched and provides an in-depth analysis of the topic.
Updates for March 15, 2023- Core Update
The Update- This core update by Google was launched to improve its understanding and ranking potential of content. The core update aims to promote and reward websites with high-quality web pages. It is beneficial for those web pages that were under rewards in the past.
At the same time, this update will enhance the search experience of the users by reducing the practice of black hat SEO such as Content scraping, link exchange, and doorway pages.
For Example, A website that has all the attributes that a user or search engines prefer will be rewarded with a better rank.
Approach to follow – To weather this crucial update, you should focus on providing an enhanced user experience to your target audience. You should write your content after every Google update in a way that satisfies the search intent of your users or a website that is easy to navigate and find information.
Updates for February 21, 2023- Product Reviews Update
The Update: This product review update by Google aimed to create a sense of necessity for high-quality content. Google demands that the content created should come from a source that has experience, expertise, authority, and is trustworthy.
Approach to follow – This update requires you to create content that provides in-depth knowledge about the topic rather than some content that only touches the surface of the topic. To make your content more valuable, you should hire or work with industry experts to create content for your users or provide sources of your claim.
Updates for December 14, 2022- Link Spam Update
The Update: With this update, Google aims to nullify spammy backlinks created to manipulate search engine results pages with the help of Spam Brain AI tech. Websites that use spammy links to their advantage may witness a drop in their ranking, as any credit passed shall be lost with this update.
Approach to follow – Google sees links acquired for the purpose of SERP manipulation as link spam. These spam links may provide you with a ranking on the SERP, but it is short-lived. This is because Google algorithms are in constant watch to eliminate such links.
Updates for December 5, 2022- Helpful Content Update
The Update: Google, on December 5, 2022, added an extra “E” to its content guideline, changing E-A-T to E-E-A-T. The extra E here stands for Experience, which is a metric that gauges the Experience of the content author. This update is rolled out primarily to demote websites that create content from the SEO point of view.
For example, A user in need of information to optimize their website for On-page SEO will be more likely to prefer content produced by someone experienced in the field.
Approach to follow – Make sure that content created by you reflects Experience, such as the actual use of a gadget or having actually visited or place. Content with E-E-A-T creates trust in the mind of the readers, which in turn encourages them to engage with your website and take the desired action.
Updates for October 19, 2022- Spam Update
The Update: This Update comes whenever Google improves its spam detection system. With this update, Google aims to promote websites or web pages that are of high quality and value to the users.
Approach to follow – Ensure that your website doesn’t follow practices that are prohibited by Google. Practices such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, and Link spam will make your website demote from your SERP ranking position.
Updates for September 18, 2022- Product Reviews Update
The Update: Product review updates are rolled out to encourage SEO experts and marketers to create content that provides in-depth knowledge to the readers.
Approach to follow – Create content that satisfies the search intent of a user holistically instead of covering a few points. Provide analysis and opinions in your content to further help users make decisions.
Updates for September 12, 2022- Core Update
The Update: Google rolled out its core update, which was mainly focused on helpful content updates. This helpful content update discourages SEO experts or marketers from creating content to rank well on search engines.
Broad Core updates differ from Core updates in respect to its reach. Broad core updates have a more far reaching impact on search engine algorithms than the latter one.
Approach to follow – You should aim to create content that provides value and in-depth education to your readers and also that aligns with Google’s algorithms.
Updates for August 18, 2022- helpful Content Update
The Update: This update’s main objective was to encourage SEO experts to create content that is People’s first content. With this update, google wants to ensure that people see more original, helpful content written by people for people in search results.
Approach to follow – Create content that reflects information, expertise and analysis for your readers.
Updates for july 27, 2022- Product Review Update
The Update: This update by Google was rolled out on 27 July to help High-quality review pages rank higher and to demote low-quality review pages.
Approach to follow – Create a review content with expertise in mind. Provide opinions, analysis, and comprehensive coverage of the topic to your readers to satisfy their search intent.
Updates for may 25, 2022- Core Update
The Update: This update by Google saw a volatile week in Google’s SERP. Website owners across the globe saw a significant fluctuation in their SERP rankings. The aim of this update was to improve Google’s system that assesses content overall.
Approach to follow – To weather this core update, ensure that your website is optimized to provide an enhanced user experience to your visitors. Be it high-quality content, backlink profile, or loading speed of your website.
Updates for March 23, 2022- Product Reviews update
The Update: This product reviews update, like other review updates, aim to promote review content that is able to give a comprehensive and accurate idea of the product to the users.
Approach to follow – Make sure that the content review that you write justifies and supports your opinion or suggestions.
Updates for February 22, 2022- Page experience Update
The Update: This update aims to improve the page experience of the users on the desktop. It considers three web vitals metrics such as LCP, FID, and CLS, for desktop ranking for any website.
Approach to follow – Improve the loading speed of your website or webpage by assessing all three core web vital(Site Speed Optimization) metrics. Also, remember to optimize for other page experience factors, such as HTTPS protocol and the absence of interstitials.
Major Google Updates :
Panda(2011)
Google Panda was a significant algorithm update aimed at penalizing low-quality and thin content websites while rewarding sites with high-quality, valuable content. It targeted content farms and sites with excessive advertising, pushing them down in search rankings.
Penguin(2012)
Google Penguin focused on combating websites that engaged in manipulative link-building practices, such as buying links or participating in link schemes. This update was rolled out to penalize websites that indulge in unfair link-building practices.
Hummingbird(2013)
Google Hummingbird was a complete renovation of Google’s search algorithm, which emphasized semantic search and understanding the context of search queries better. It aimed to provide more relevant results by understanding user intent behind queries.
Mobile(2015)
This update by Google was aimed at making mobile usability a crucial ranking factor for mobile searches. At the same time, websites that were optimized for mobile as well saw a boost in their ranking on SERP, while non-mobile-friendly websites saw a drop in ranking.
RankBrain Update(2015)
The main aim of this update was to make Google’s search algorithms much better at processing and comprehending users’ search queries.
Core Updates(2017-Present)
Core updates are broad algorithms that google launches multiple times each year. These updates aim to refine search results by reassessing and adjusting ranking factors such as high-quality content or Technical aspects of a web page.
Bert(2019)
BERT stands for bidirectional Encoder Representation from transformations. This was an update that improved my understanding of the context and the nuances of user search queries.
Medic Update:
The main aim of this update was to enhance the search experience for websites dealing in sensitive topics such as Health care, Law and Finance. The reason for the nickname “Medic” is because the update had a significant impact on many medical and health-related websites.
Link Spam (2022)
Google rolled out this major update in December 2022 to discourage the practice of building spammy links for SEO benefits.
Final Words!!
In the end, do not ignore these crucial Google updates, as they will guide you toward building a website that provides value to your visitors and ranks higher on the SERP. Keep your SEO strategy in alliance with these new algorithms that Google launches to establish your website as an credible and trusted source for information.