What Google Algorithm Updates mean for SEO

A trip to the Google ZOO.

 

 

 

Keeping track of all Google´s algorithm updates can feel like visiting a zoo where they´re always moving the penguin exhibit. Even the most experienced SEO masters can get a little lost. Here is a roadmap to a few of the biggest updates in recent years - plus tips on how to adjust your route accordingly.

 

 

 

 

3 Major Updates


1. Panda/Farmer

Scope of the change

-Targeted content farms and pages with high ad-to-content ratios.

- Impacted up to 12% of search results

 

Why the name?
Named after a Google engineer who was key to the update, Navneet Panda

 

 

 

2. Penguin

Scope of the change

 

- Adjusted for spam factors, such as keyword stuffing

- About 3,1% of queries in English were affected

 

Why the name?

Some speculate it´s named after the Batman supervillain.

 

 

 

3. Hummingbird

It was announced about a month later - few had even noticed the change

Scope of the change

 

- A "brand new engine,"

 though it still integrates pieces of old algorithms

- Impacts 90% of searches

 

Why the name?

Because it´s "precise and fast"

 

 

TIPS TO AVOID SERP EXILE

 

1. Avoid unnatural links, which are targeted by Penguin 2.1

2. Clean up your link profile aggressively
3. Avoid exact match anchor links (CLICK HERE) 

4. Blog links wihout no-follow tags can imply you´re gaming links

5. Clean up spammy directories, even old ones!


REMEMBER!

Search results still reward high-quality, original content, perhaps more than even before.