So now that you know what SEO is and why you need it, let’s delve a little bit deeper by exploring the Google algorithm.
What governs the rules of Search Engine Optimisation? Well, the search engine, of course.
And who is the biggest search engine? Yep, it’s Google.
Google (and other search engines like Bing) were built to serve people, and because people are constantly changing, search engine technology needs to constantly evolve to keep up with the needs of its users.
This is why Google regularly tweaks and upgrades their algorithms on how they treat web content, rankings and links. Their highest priority is to provide the best user experience possible – one that gives each user what they are looking for in the most simple and straightforward way.
This is what Google says about how their algorithms work:
“With the amount of information available on the web, finding what you need would be nearly impossible without some help sorting through it. Google ranking systems are designed to do just that: sort through hundreds of billions of webpages in our Search index to find the most relevant, useful results in a fraction of a second, and present them in a way that helps you find what you’re looking for.
These ranking systems are made up of not one, but a whole series of algorithms. To give you the most useful information, Search algorithms look at many factors, including the words of your query, relevance and usability of pages, expertise of sources, and your location and settings. The weight applied to each factor varies depending on the nature of your query—for example, the freshness of the content plays a bigger role in answering queries about current news topics than it does about dictionary definitions.
To help ensure Search algorithms meet high standards of relevance and quality, we have a rigorous process that involves both live tests and thousands of trained external Search Quality Raters from around the world. These Quality Raters follow strict guidelines that define our goals for Search algorithms and are publicly available for anyone to see.”
So while Google is always trying to improve by implementing updates to their algorithms, it can be a bit worrying for website owners (if they don’t have a super SEO team like us, of course!).
Generally, soon after new updates to the Google algorithm, there can be spikes or drops on websites – but this is temporary and part of the process. Once all is settled, your SEO team will be able to measure the next steps to ensure that your website is aligned with the latest requirements. Sometimes it requires a lot of content tweaking, and other times you’re already ahead of the curve and don’t have to do a thing – it all depends on what Google is looking for.
But we are here so that you don’t have to worry about every minor or major Google update.
We have the expertise to ensure that no drop is unsalvageable and no spike is ever your last spike.
Because it is our mission to ensure that you remain discoverable to the right audiences so that you can focus on what you do best – without having to worry about SEO nitty gritties.