Latest SEO News Updates
Staying current in the SEO industry can be daunting, so stay abreast of changes happening with Google by following SEO news updates.
Ranking trackers and webmaster chatter reported an intense week of flux (MozCast peaked at 109degF) as universal results saw major shifts. Google also released its minor Panda data update rebranded as Panda 3.X.
Penguin Refresh
Penguin, Google’s best-known ranking algorithm, first debuted in 2012. Designed to combat webspam, since then it has undergone several updates and refreshes as part of Google core algorithm; changes now take place continuously instead of manually.
People who have made efforts to clean up their links should see positive effects from this latest update, while it could negatively impact those still using spammy links. It will serve to separate real SEO agencies from those using black hat tactics.
Knowledge Graph
Knowledge Graph is Google’s search engine’s ability to understand real-world entities and their relationships between one another, providing faster, more accurate results and providing for improved understanding of natural language queries.
Google knows who Harrison Ford is when searching “who played Han Solo in Star Wars”. Their work together on these films makes him highly associated with Han Solo.
When creating a new relationship in an investigation, existing entities are searched for property values matching your query. If no entities exist yet, use the “New Entity Type Control” to create one by clicking it.
Panda Update
The Panda update (formerly Farmer) was first unveiled by Google in 2011. Its purpose was to lower low quality websites from search engine results pages (SERPs), while increasing those with superior content.
Google Panda acts like a filter, evaluating each page’s content individually and penalizing sites containing thin or duplicate material. Since then, this update has become part of its core algorithm.
Focusing on creating high-quality content that provides value to users is the best way to avoid being affected by Panda updates, and may indicate this if SERP visibility decreases over time.
Hummingbird Update
Hummingbird, Google’s groundbreaking algorithm update that revolutionized search engine optimization, shifted focus from keyword optimization to understanding user intent resulting in more relevant search results.
Hummingbird can recognize when someone searches for “bespoke kitchen” as they are seeking information about its benefits and drawbacks, meaning businesses can rank highly in SERPs if their content meets users’ queries and answers their questions effectively.
As with Penguin and Panda updates, this update prioritizes quality content over spammy keywords – an encouraging sign for businesses with original and high-quality articles on their websites!
In-Depth Articles
Google has recently made strides towards including more in-depth articles as part of its search results, which is positive as this helps enhance content quality in SERPs and makes finding information simpler.
Depth articles tend to outshone thin content when competing for keywords with informational intent, as they have greater topical relevance, making them simpler for search engines to rank for.
At present, the in-depth article feature is only appearing on select searches, and is being replaced by a scholarly articles feature that links to three articles providing more in-depth knowledge for search queries. Scholarly articles typically consist of academically written pieces on scientific or research-intensive subjects.
Site Diversity Update
As its name implies, this update limits how frequently a domain appears in search results pages. It’s intended to prevent sites from dominating search queries with multiple listings from the same domain.
Google announced this change via their Search Liaison Twitter account. It began rolling out several days ago and is now fully live; please be aware that this change does not relate to June 2019 Core Update.
Google’s move could be beneficial to smaller brands as it will give them more chances to appear in search results; however, this could harm some sites whose quality falls below standard.
SERP Updates
The Possum update addressed misinformation on Google Map Pack search results and awarded local businesses with great listings that had gained their customers’ trust and had built lasting relationships.
The September 2022 product review algorithm update was intended to reward comprehensive and in-depth product reviews that provided side-by-side comparisons as well as ranked lists of products.
The September broad core update boosted relevant pages in search results while deindexing others, encouraging SEOs who noticed a drop in ranking to keep creating quality content and adhere to guidelines, hoping it may eventually restore their ranks.