7 Solid Tips to Maintain Your SEO Ranking Despite Google Updates

The Google updates represent a change in the algorithms that govern the way people navigate and explore the world online. Algorithms and the way they read information on the web, classifying them for consumption in a deliberate order, constitute the source of information that people consume in their search results, timelines and sources. And these formulas work continuously for users, even when they don’t realize that there may be something behind the scenes.

SEO and the algorithm

SEO is an area that relies heavily on the Google algorithm. Every aspect of SEO optimization and digital marketing relies on adhering to the best practices of Google’s search algorithms. However, from time to time, Google updates this algorithm and how they calculate search results. This means that whenever Google’s algorithms change, so do the best practices that involve it. SEO optimization must adapt to it. Regardless of whether a business uses SEO keywords, link building or backlinking, or even social media posts, they must adjust their campaign to adhere to the new development.

It is also incredibly critical to be aware of any algorithm changes for a company using SEO on a large website. Take, for example, an e-commerce company that has many best practices. They have the right keywords, selected through careful research, spread across your entire website, and they rank high in searches. But when Google updates the algorithm, they suddenly find themselves losing. Their practices are no longer “good” according to the updates and, as a result, they are penalized.

To rectify this, the person tracking the company’s ranking on Google must inform the team of the situation and determine the changes. Then the team should begin to implement the adjustments as soon as possible. Diagnosing and correcting penalties is vital to maintaining the company’s ranking in Google searches. Keywords must be carefully researched again; SEO on pages needs to be perfected once again. The rest of the typical SEO process can continue by following the new techniques.

Breaking the Internet: How Google Updates Algorithms

In its most basic sense, the algorithm is a list of rules that allows Google to solve a problem. In this case, the problem is finding relevant, reliable and accurate search results based on the keywords that the end user enters. But Google changes the algorithm responsible for this activity frequently. SEO specialists and analysts must be aware of every change. Knowledge like this allows your customers to maintain your website’s ranking and status as an authority.

Take a look at some of the essential algorithm updates over the years as Google updates the system.

Penguin (April 2012)

In 2012, Google Penguin focused on two areas in particular: link schemes and keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing is when a page is loaded with an abnormally large number of repetitive keywords in an attempt to make the page appear when a user can search for something between them. Link schemes, on the other hand, refer to backlinks found on unrelated or low-quality websites. Websites caught doing these techniques were penalized.

Hummingbird (August 2013)

Hummingbird marked a complete reworking of the algorithm as people knew it. It wasn’t just another one of Google’s regular updates that tweaked some areas, it completely fixed the entire method. Now instead of just focusing on keywords, Google has switched to focus on topics. Google can now better understand the search queries that users entered.

Possum (September 2016)

Possum was not an official update, but it shifted the focus to more local results. Makes geographic location important. A user within the local area of ​​the business would be more likely to see the business in their search results. Ultimately this increases a website’s local traffic when it comes to its local or surrounding areas.

Increased fragment length (November 2017)

Meta descriptions were directly affected by this change. Previously, page meta descriptions were restricted to 155 characters. But new updates from Google revealed that the length of the descriptions has almost doubled, now reaching 300 characters. Search results now have more room for details that users can read.

Mobile Device Index First (March 2018)

In response to the increasing number of users on mobile devices, Google first tested a mobile device index. In turn, site owners became more vigilant that the mobile version of their sites was also SEO friendly.

Fragment length decrease (May 2018)

For some changes, they are not permanent and act as tests to see if the new method works better. Not all changes are successful and rollbacks happen with Google updates. This is one of those updates; Google tested the 300 character meta description and snippet length and decided it wasn’t working. They returned the descriptions to between 150 and 160 characters, forcing the webmasters to truncate their descriptions again.

Video Carousels (June 2018)

Search engine results pages now have organic video results in their video carousel. It was a huge change in what is defined as “organic” for Google search results. Now, companies that take advantage of video marketing could find their means on the results page.

Diversity (June 2019)

Google then announced a site diversity update, in which sites that had more than two organic listings experienced improvements.

BERT International Launch (December 2019)

Updates from Google confirmed that a natural language processing algorithm was being implemented in more than 70 languages. This means that Google can now better understand natural languages, especially when it comes to searches. Contexts are better understood, which leads to better search results. Now websites that use natural languages ​​can also use better SEO techniques.

Featured Snippet Duplicate Removal (Jan 2020)

Earlier this year, Google decided that featured snippets are no longer traditional organic results. Now these snippets would get promoted organic results. It directly affected the way ranking between websites is tracked, as well as click-through rates.

May Basic Update (May 2020)

This is considered the last major update this year. Google updates revealed that they made another significant change to their algorithm, affecting many industries that have also been affected by COVID-19. Travel, health, animals, food and people have been affected categories. Since the rankings fluctuated drastically, webmasters are now advised to adapt to the changes in various ways.

Keep firm! Ways to maintain ranking even during turbulence

With all the algorithm changes, it is simply not known what kind of developments will affect a website. As Google continues to adjust and refine the rankings to accommodate real-world changes and developments, businesses and website owners must also adapt to meet the new guidelines. Maintaining ranking while Google updates the algorithm can be tricky, but experts have a number of ways to keep a website afloat at the top of search results.

• Keep the title and meta description optimized.

As you may have noticed, the changes don’t apply much to titles and meta descriptions, aside from some truncations here and there. The title and snippet or description will be the first thing users see in search results, making those two areas count from the beginning. They will not be as affected as other changes.

• Stay up-to-date and update frequently.

If your website has been one of the most recent victims of Google updates, you shouldn’t panic. Publishing regularly updated content reduces the risk of a decrease in traffic and maintains relevance. In addition, it is an excellent opportunity to check if any old article has dead links, thanks to the changes on the site. Keeping the links working avoids further penalties.

Now is not the time to slow down link building. As long as the team considers any updates regarding link building and new best practices for it, it is a good idea to keep building the links. It puts distance between you and the competition.

• Establish your authority.

Another great way to maintain a high SEO rank despite updates from Google is to make sure your website is considered an authority, particularly for the keyword you are trying to rank for. In the most recent evolutions of the Google algorithm, a lot of weight is given to websites that are considered authoritative in their topics. If the site maintains that value, any difficulty in making changes to the algorithm should be minimal.

• Change your site to HTTP.

If you have not already done so, change the website from “HTTP” to “HTTPS”. In 2018, Google updates classified HTTP web addresses as “not secure.” It could result in the site receiving a warning label from Google, and people will not be willing to visit it. It would lower the ranking of the page. By switching to https, you not only update the website to better protocols, but also maintain the rankings.

Google doesn’t announce its updates so succinctly. Sometimes the changes can be implemented or tested without any ads, causing some turbulence in the rankings. Therefore, site owners should always remain vigilant, tracking their rankings and looking for any anomalies. Knowing when changes occur is the most critical part of being prepared for changes and new updates from Google.

• Stick with the key principles.

While ever-changing algorithms make maintaining a strong SEO ranking a never-ending task, there are key principles you can follow to always give your website a chance to succeed. They monitor your competition, produce relevant and valuable content, and ensure the best possible experience for your visitors. If you can do these three, people will come – adjusting to fit updates will be the easy part.

Stay on top

Google’s algorithms rule the world of rankings and SEO optimization. Sometimes it is not known why they make changes and there is no notice. But as with any competition in the world of technology, companies and site owners must continue to improve and innovate, adapting to the changing terrain. Only then will they be able to keep abreast of their competition.

Have you experienced ranking drops due to Google updates? How did you rectify the situation? Let us know in the comments below.

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