EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES

Google Algorithm Updates

Google algorithm updates are well known for their impact on website rankings. We know about Penguin and Panda, but what’s in store next? The Google algorithm updates are all the buzz online, and the details have been obscure, to say the least.

But we can’t ignore it. Google’s algorithms are some of the top recipes when it comes to whipping up successful SEO. If you practice SEO, staying up-to-date on major algorithm updates is a must. Gleaning the details can be tricky. Google doesn’t always like to tell all. Yet we can still try to calculate their next move.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT GOOGLE AND ALGORITHMS?

Google has been taking serious hits for fake news and other unhelpful postings. With so much misleading content populating in user’s search results as a result of SEO strategies, the search engine behemoth had to do something.

To improve the user experience, they began developing algorithm updates that evaluate websites and their content for quality and credibility. This made it easier to weed out “fake news” results as well as keyword-stuffed content that lacked any form of substance.

WHAT IS FAKE NEWS?

Fake news is intentionally misguided or otherwise deceptive information.

No one likes being lied to, and Google certainly didn’t want readers exposed to misleading content on the internet. Logically, Google took the initiative to combat fake news by investing 300 million dollars in quality journalism. Over the next few years, Google is planning to work toward cracking down on fake news as well as manipulative content.

WHAT IS MANIPULATIVE CONTENT?

Too many good marketers fall into the mistake of creating manipulative content. Manipulative content is when content creators start to think more about SEO than about the human reading the content. This includes flawed backlinking and choosing to plug whatever site has a high ranking into their hyperlinks to piggyback off of their success.

Luckily, there is an easy tip for avoiding this dangerous habit: Ask yourself if your content is helpful to your readers. The most efficient way to do this is by checking to be sure that you’re creating relevant content, but how do you determine this?

CONTENT CHECKS AND BALANCES

The best and most reliable way to avoid strikes from machine-learning tools like RankBrain or Cloud Vision API is to write quality content. Avoid click-baiting or falsifying information!

You’ll be able to tell whether you’re creating good or bad content based on your site’s performance. After every major update in Google’s algorithms (whether core changes or tweaks) websites tend to notice shifts in their ranking.

CONSTRUCTING QUALITY CONTENT

When creating content for your website, you want to consider three things. First, consider your audience.

  • Who are you talking to?
  • What are you saying to them?
  • Why are you saying it?

Second, consider Google. Think about keywords and consider the playground of SEO. The incorporation of these two elements is considered good practice for writing quality content.

Don’t focus on just one of these suggestions. Keywords and content relevancy go hand-in-hand, so you want to remain consistent with both of them. Consistency is one of the major elements that help your website travel up Google’s search ranking. That means that under the right circumstances and with enough effort you could be in Google’s top 10 search results!

QUALITY BACKLINKING

Another tip for creating quality content is backlinking. You want backlinks to boost your credibility, not take from it. By researching your backlinks and making sure that your backlinks are relevant, you can ensure their quality.

WHY IS QUALITY BACKLINKING IMPORTANT?

Mainly, quality backlinking is important because of domain authority. Domain authority is your websites’ search engine ranking. Based on your websites’ popularity, you’ll score somewhere on a 100-point percentile. The best range is between 20-30 because this means that you’re growing your website steadily compared to a higher number.

IS DOMAIN OR SITE AUTHORITY REALLY IMPORTANT?

Quality content and quality backlinking are definitive elements that will produce solid traffic and ranking in Google. Some argue that domain and site authority is also vital to the success of a website.

First, let’s define domain and site authority…

Domain and site authority are concepts in SEO that suggest the age of a website determines a high-ranking website. Additionally, authority is created by the number of how many backlinks are being used. Some believe that domain or site authority gauges the success or high ranking of a website. That is simply not the case.

Here’s the truth…

Google has “never researched or patented a domain authority metric.” That means that there is no viable evidence suggesting that domain or site authority has any impact on ranking in Google. Domain or site authority is an old concept that has long since been discarded. From the facts, we can conclude that domain or site authority is not used in calculating your website’s ranking in Google.

Again, Google judges websites based on quality content and backlinking. In this case, honesty is the best policy.

WHAT IMPACT WILL GOOGLE ALGORITHM UPDATES HAVE ON SSL AND SECURITY?

Now that we’ve created great quality for our customers, we have to think about security.

SSL is short for Secure Socket Layer. SSL is an encryption protocol used in communications. In other words, it is an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.

This certification indicates that your website has a secure connection. Purchasing and installing one into your website is essential if you want to avoid getting flagged.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON’T GET SSL CERTIFIED?

Your website will display a warning sign to your viewers that your website or content is not secure. This could be devastating to sales for businesses that use their websites like online stores.

So why is Google doing this? They want websites to be SSL certified because they want users to be protected. SSL certification ensures security as well as privacy.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF SSL CERTIFICATION?

The most obvious benefit of SSL certification is cybersecurity! SSL certification protects websites from cybercriminals. This means that your website is less likely to fall victim to malicious cyber attacks. An SSL will protect your website from vulnerabilities in security that could compromise the success of your business, or worse, the personal information of your customers.

By ensuring the security of your website and business, you’ll also be building trust with your customers. Customers will feel that you have their best interest at heart. You’ll also stand out from a company that does not go the extra mile to ensure customer’s safety.

A FINAL TIP: FOLLOW GOOGLE ON TWITTER

There isn’t a better way to stay informed about Google algorithm updates than reading up on Google’s Twitter.

Google recently tweeted, “Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. Some are focused on specific improvements. Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely several times per year…”

HOW CAN VECTRA HELP YOU?

We understand that SSL and SEO can be complicated and time-consuming. That’s why here at Vectra Digital we offer SEO content services to boost your traffic and increase your Google ranking. 

Our team is wholeheartedly invested in producing the best results for your brand and website. We spend countless hours obtaining innovative research to produce the best results for our clients.

Give us a call at 239-234-2566 to strategize your SEO game plan.