Google Algorithm Update: Organic Search History

For any business looking to rise to the top of the search results, understanding the process of ranking and what Google is looking for is essential.

We’re not just talking about the here and now of SEO. It has been a decade now since Google started improving the quality of search. While the majority of these changes are indispensable, some are real game changers.

So today, we’re going to step through some of the most remarkable Google algorithm updates and explain how to adapt your marketing strategy to be prepared for them:

Panda (2011):

The very first update that shook the SEO world and started the white-hat revolution was the Panda algo update. In a nutshell, Panda was introduced to locate and downrank websites that produced low-quality, spammy content. The main culprits were those who used keyword stuffing to rise to the top of the search results. Though, back then everyone pretty much used this tactic. Think about it this way; Google sets the rules. We simply have to move with the times or face being dropped from the search results altogether.
Watch out for:

Thin content.
Duplicate content.
User-generated spam.
Irrelevant content.

What to do:
The best way to identify any of these errors is through a site audit. Since Panda is not limited to certain pages, it’s crucial that you cover everything. It may be an article you published some years ago but if it’s active online, it can still be crawled.

Using the industry-standard site crawler, Deepcrawl, will help locate any issues that may be holding you back. It’s a simple tool that requires you to enter your web address and hit ‘scan.’ From there, you will be presented with a report, and that’s where things get interesting.

Look for the issues mentioned above and take steps to rectify them. Some of them will require more attention than others. For example, duplicate content is one of the main reasons for a website to drop in the rankings. Google is quick to catch on.

If you do find duplicate content on your website, decide which page you want to rank in the search results. Don’t be tempted to just remove one, though. You need to check first in Google Analytics to see which page is bringing in the most organic traffic. It’s no good removing a page with the potential to generate new business.

The second option is to apply a rel=canonical tag to the page you want to rank in the search engines. The major difference between a canonical tag and a redirect is that a canonical tag is simply a hint to Google and not a directive.

Penguin (2012):

Following Panda, in 2012 Google launched Penguin which was aimed at down-ranking websites with manipulative, spammy links. The thing is, links have always been in the most powerful ranking factor. Before the update, however, Google could not determine the quality of a link. The search results were a battlefield with SEO’s buying links from anywhere. There was no quality control. Of course, this could not continue – so Penguin was introduced to scan every external and internal link to ensure they were relevant and authoritative.

Watch out for:

Over-optimised anchor text.
Links from spammy sites. Be aware that your competitors can point links at your site to outrank you. Google is working to find these links quicker so that you don’t have to disavow them.
Irrelevant links pointing to your site.

What to do:The very first thing to do when fighting spammy links is to get a complete list of backlinks pointing to your website. It’s important to keep in mind that while you may be building high-powered, relevant backlinks, others may not. They could be messing up your link building efforts by directing low-authority links to your pages.

Google is getting better at spotting manipulative links and is taking steps to remove them without the need for a disavow file. For now, however, we would always recommend using a tool, like Majestic SEO, to review your backlink profile in detail.

The next step is to identify toxic links. This is a manual process, and for a large site, it can take some time. From there, you can hand-select the links with a low trust score that are not relevant to your industry. These are the ones that can potentially harm your SEO efforts.

One of the safest ways to remove links is to contact the webmasters directly and ask them to remove the link. If they don’t reply, then it’s time to submit a disavow file with the help of Google’s disavow tool. It’s essential to consider every link in detail before submitting your file. The last thing you want is to disavow links that are sending traffic to your site and boosting your rankings. There’s a fine line, so always speak to a professional beforehand.

Hummingbird (2013) / RankBrain (2015)

Once Google established some order to its search results, it turned its attention to search intent. This is the understanding of why people use the keywords they do. Google rolled out the Hummingbird update in 2013 and later followed RankBrain in 2015. Both of these updates work to help better establish the meaning behind searches but operate in slightly different ways.

Hummingbird works to help establish the purpose of a search query and present relevant results to the searcher. Previously, Google used keywords alone to allocate places in the search results. Following the update, the combination of words and context are taken into consideration.

RankBrain is a machine learning software that helps better understand the logic behind certain search queries. It’s an addition to Hummingbird, which is based on previous search data. RankBrain will look at what a searcher typed into Google in connection with the results they clicked on to predict the search intent.

Watch out for:

Keyword stuffing.
Unnatural language.
Irrelevant content.

What to do:

If you are an old-school SEO’er, it’s time to change your ways. Using one broad keyword across your page will no longer result is higher rankings. You need to diversify your content with synonyms and LSI-keywords. This should be an easy task for a skilled content writer, as people tend to use these words naturally when writing.

Pigeon / Possum

For many years it was considerably difficult to rank for local search terms, especially when compared with the competition from national rivals. It wasn’t fair as some of the local search terms were incredibly relevant and presented more accurate results for local queries. For that reason, Google rolled out the Pigeon update in 2016 closely followed by the Possum two years later.

The launch of the Pigeon update was intended to bring local search results in line with the national ones. It was a major consideration when ranking local search results. This saw directory listings skyrocket to the top of the rankings. It also created more ties with Google Maps.

The Possum update was focused on ranking websites for local terms based on the searcher’s geographical location. It now means that if you’re close to a business, then it’s more likely to appear in the search results than a rival company 10 miles away! It’s just common sense.

Watch out for:

NAP consistency.
Google My Business optimisation.
Local SEO website optimisation.

What to do:

Optimise for local search: Now that Google is placing more relevance on local search results, it makes sense to capitalise on that search traffic. It’s a tactic that, to this day, many companies neglect. They are hell bent on ranking for broad keywords and forget the relevance of local search terms. Get ahead of the game by optimising your website to rank for local search terms. Creating separate landing pages for different locations nearby will increase your chances of ranking in the search results.

Set up Google My Business: If you want your site to be included in Google’s local index, a Google My Business page is a must. Make sure you categorise your listing with your services/products. It’s also important to keep your GMB consistent with any local directory listings or citations you build (which is an absolute must!)

Mobilegeddon (2015) / Mobile-First Indexing (2018):

The importance of mobile search started back in 2015 when Google released its first Mobile Friendly update. People were using their mobiles to search for local attractions, such as restaurants, theatres, pubs, parks, etc. The list goes on. To make for an improved mobile user experience, the mission became to up-rank websites that were optimised for mobile devices.

In 2018, we saw the Mobile-First algo update. This still causes a lot of confusion with companies. Mobile-First Indexing is not about rankings – it’s all about indexing. Search engines bots will crawl the mobile version of your site first.

Watch out for:

Lack of mobile optimisation.

What to do:

There will come a time when all websites are optimised for mobile searching. If didn’t receive a notification about mobile-first indexing in your Google Search Console account, then it means your site wasn’t re-indexed. The best thing to do would be to check your robots.txt file to ensure that all your pages are accessible to Google’s bots. You don’t want to restrict access to any important pages.