How Google Updated Its Search Engine Ranking Algorithm in June
The BERT update added another factor that worked alongside RankBrain to provide better answers for more specific searches.
The Possum algorithm significantly enhanced local search results. Prior to this development, businesses outside city limits often struggled to rank for relevant queries in local searches.
The recent Medic update improved Google’s analysis of expertise, authority and trustworthiness (EAT). SEOs should keep an eye on this metric when developing content for their websites.
Page Layout Update
This core update sought to reward pages that offer high-quality content, keeping in mind that creating it takes both time and effort.
This update encourages websites to include more original content above the fold (the section that appears before users begin scrolling), prompting some SEO practitioners to observe a decrease in rankings as a result of this shift.
This update impacts multiple factors, including large contentful paint size, first input delay time and cumulative layout shift metric; all three will play an integral part in Google’s Page Experience update which will roll out this summer.
Penguin Update
The Penguin Update is an algorithmic change from Google that penalizes websites using SEO tactics which violate their Webmaster Guidelines and aim to promote high quality content that provides value to their users.
Penguin updates work real-time and page by page; thus if your website was penalized in the past, it will take time for your site to recover.
Historically, the Penguin filter demoted sites using bad link practices; now, however, it only devalues them rather than completely removing them from search index. This change marks an important advancement for Internet’s future and also facilitates faster recoveries after penalties are issued.
Passage Ranking Update
Google’s Passage Ranking Update allows it to rank specific passages of a web page within search results, providing answers for very specific questions more efficiently and satisfying user intent.
Google allows content creators and SEO content marketers alike to take advantage of this fact by pulling relevant information out and displaying it as search results snippets, making this great news for SEO content creators provided the focus remains on providing users with valuable information.
Featured Snippet Update
Google’s Update of its Featured Snippets has had an adverse effect on many search query rankings. Formerly known as position zero results, Featured Snippets (also referred to as “snippets”) appeared above the first ten organic search results in organic search queries.
Many SEOs and webmasters were concerned that losing their Featured Snippet would significantly impact traffic, but Google has assured that when featured snippet spots are no longer present organic search results remain at position one. You can use Ahrefs’ Ranking Monitoring Dashboard to track these changes over time as well as cross-reference them with CTR data to assess impact – giving you enough information to plan an appropriate SEO strategy moving forward.
Site Diversity Update
The Site Diversity Update limits how often a domain appears in search results, to prevent authoritative sites from dominating and blocking smaller ones from showing up.
Unfortunately, our initial tests were somewhat disappointing. Judging SEO can be difficult due to so many algorithms being in play at once.
However, we could be wrong. Perhaps a larger study will indicate otherwise and we will continue to monitor its impact.
Medic Update
Google offers daily updates to their search engine ranking algorithm, but some changes stand out and cause major shifts. One such change made waves in SEO circles was known as The Medic Update.
The Medic Update was a broad core algorithm update, and although it impacted all sites, some industries were affected more severely than others. According to SEO writer Barry Schwartz, health, fitness and medical sites were especially hard hit by it.
Schwartz believes this to be due to Google’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authority and Trust) guidelines being more stringent for Your Money Your Life content than they were before the Medic Update was introduced – regardless of its intent, this marked an important shift in their prioritization processes for online content.