What happens when the Google algorithm changes?
Introduction
What happens when the Google algorithm changes?
The Google algorithm is a collection of rules that determines how Google ranks websites. When Google announces an algorithm change, it looks like this:
The search giant announced the algorithm update on August 20, 2019 and it’s been in effect since then. The company made these changes as part of its ongoing effort to improve user experience on mobile devices by focusing on sites with high-quality content, relevant information, and fast load times. Although this particular update doesn’t affect all websites equally—it only impacts those that don’t meet certain criteria—it’s still something you should keep an eye out for during your next site audit!
The algorithm is a collection of rules that determines how Google ranks websites
The Google algorithm is a collection of rules that determines how Google ranks websites. It’s constantly changing, which means that the way it works today may not be the same as how it worked a year ago. You can think of the algorithm as a set of instructions for your computer to follow when searching for something on the web: if you type in “cat” into your search bar and press “Enter”, based on those instructions, your computer will give you results about cats.
Google has many teams working on this algorithm; each team has its own purpose and focuses on different parts of it. The team responsible for ranking webpages decides which pages appear first in search results by using some sort of formula (or “algorithm”). This formula takes into account various factors including things like content quality, relevancy, popularity, click-through rates etc., but ultimately these factors don’t matter much unless they’re given context – so instead we’ll focus primarily on what goes into making up this formula itself!
When Google announces an algorithm change, it looks like this:
When Google announces an algorithm change, it looks like this:
- The announcement is made via Google’s official blog and shared in their official Twitter account (both of which are very easy to find).
- It is usually a big change (not a small tweak) and the announcement will be made at least one month before the update goes into effect. An example of this was when they announced their mobile-first indexing initiative in April 2015 and started rolling it out by September 2015. With that said, there have been some smaller changes introduced without notice or warning, so keep your eyes peeled for both minor and major updates!3. 4. They’ll let you know exactly what date your site has been affected by giving you an idea of how much time you have left before any action should be taken by yourself or someone working on your behalf (i.e., if they say “We’ll roll out these changes on July 25th” then everyone should start looking at how they’re going affect their sites as soon as possible).
Who does these changes affect?
If you own or manage a website, the fact that Google makes changes to their algorithm is something you should pay attention to. The reason? Because it could affect how many visitors your site gets.
So what happens when Google changes its algorithm?
The answer: more people will find your content easier and more often.
How can you tell when Google has updated its algorithm?
There are a few ways you can tell if Google has updated its algorithm.
- The first way to find out is by checking out the post on SearchEngineLand.com, where SEO professionals and other interested parties discuss what they think might have happened and how it will impact search results. You can also see commentary in forums like WebmasterWorld, BlackHatWorld, or Reddit’s r/seo subreddit (which is also linked on SearchEngineLand).
- The second way is to look at your own search traffic—if it suddenly drops off and stays down for several days or weeks at a time, that could be an indication that something changed in the rankings algorithm. If you continue to observe the same dropoff even after those weeks end, chances are good that something really did change!
- Thirdly—and only available if your website relies heavily on organic traffic—you can check out your site analytics for changes in organic pageviews compared with previous months or years’ numbers; these kinds of drops would indicate some sort of change in Google’s indexing methods over time as well!
How can you tell if your website has been affected by an algorithm change?
If you want to know if your website has been affected by an algorithm change, the first step is to check your search traffic.
Search Console is a tool that allows you to see how much traffic your site receives from Google Search. It also provides insights into how well your website is performing in search results and whether any issues are affecting its performance. You can use it to compare your actual organic traffic numbers against those predicted by Google Trends and other tools (more on this below).
You can also look for changes in the SERP:
- Look for a drop in rankings for some of your keywords or pages. You may see that some pages have dropped out of position 1 or 2 altogether—or even disappeared from page one altogether! *Check for changes in ad text being used alongside organic listings (if applicable). Advertisers will often change their ads when they’re trying something new with their business model – so this could be another indicator that some algorithmic updates have happened recently.*Check if there’s been a drop off in conversions and revenue compared to previous months/years – this would indicate that fewer people are clicking through to purchase products after finding them within the SERP
You can’t beat the algorithm, but there are ways to minimize the impact of algorithm changes
You can’t beat the algorithm, but there are ways to minimize the impact of algorithm changes.
To keep your site up-to-date and optimized for mobile, use a tool like Google Search Console to monitor your website’s performance. You can also add keywords and phrases that you want your site to rank for as part of an SEO strategy. This helps ensure that when Google makes changes, your business doesn’t get caught off guard. Keep in mind that websites with high-quality content tend to rank higher in search results than those without it—so if you have an old blog post or product page on your site that hasn’t been updated in a while, consider updating it or removing it altogether (ideally replacing it with one that’s better).
To minimize any negative impact of a future algorithm update:
- Make sure all important information is visible at all times by using fonts and color schemes that aren’t difficult for users with poor sight (or anyone else)
- Use tables instead of JavaScript whenever possible; they’re easier for users who access webpages using assistive technologies such as screen readers
Conclusion
If you’re worried about the impact of Google’s algorithm changes, there are a few things you can do. For example, make sure that your site is mobile-friendly and up-to-date. You should also have a strong link profile with relevant content that people actually want to read. Finally, it might be helpful to know when these updates happen so you can watch out for them! We hope this blog post has given you some insight into how we keep track of changes within Google’s search results.
