Google Algorithm Change – What You Must Know

You may be aware that Google’s algorithm has recently changed, and this can impact your page speed, as well as other functionalities of your website. Have you prepared for this and done what you need to do to mitigate any negative implications for your online business?

Google regularly implements algorithm changes, and these can have significant impacts on your SEO strategy and outcomes. This is why it is so important to enlist a professional, expert SEO provider and digital marketing company to help you navigate and rise above the resultant challenges.

What Does the Algorithm Change Mean for Your SEO?

No matter how highly your website has been ranked to date in search engine results pages (SERPs), the amended Google algorithm will, in all likelihood, harm your SERPs ranks. You’ve possibly already noticed this and perhaps wondered why things have suddenly changed for your site’s ranks.

How does the Google algorithm impact search engine optimisation?

The sheer volume of available data online is mind-boggling, and it is growing exponentially. According to BBC Magazine Science Focus, between Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple alone, there are no fewer than 1200 petabytes of data stored. This equates to 1.2 million terabytes or 1.2 billion gigabytes. Added to this are industry and academic servers, as well as an array of other large providers.

The Google algorithm is used to assess and rank websites and pages online. It crawls hundreds of billions of web pages to identify and deliver the highest quality, most relevant search results. It achieves this in seconds so that internet users globally can find what they seek promptly.

How does Google determine its ranks?

A complex set of algorithms is used to rank the relevance of web pages for the terms (or focus tags/keywords) a user enters to perform a search. These algorithms consider several essential factors individually and as a whole, including:

• Keywords
• Meta Title, Description, and H1 Tags
• URLs
• Image Quality and ALT Tags
• Website Location
• Page Speed
• Page Relevance
• Page Usability
• Page Content Quality
• Page Authority
• Backlink Quality

The algorithm is regularly updated, which makes it challenging to maintain ranks. This is where an SEO expert can be invaluable for your business.

SEO is a critical aspect of any comprehensive digital marketing (and branding) strategy. Only a professional SEO company has the required insight and technical expertise to remain abreast of the many changes to these algorithms and to modify SEO campaigns to meet and overcome the negative effects that can be wrought on a website’s ranks.

The Recent Update

The Google Algorithm change implemented from June 2021 is focusing most specifically on page experience, which refers to the engagement online users experience with a web page. This endeavors to better meet the expectations of consumers online.

If for any reason the algorithm determines that a website delivers a substandard on-page user experience, that page will not be ranked – regardless of previous ranking performance. Conversely, a page that is identified as delivering a great user experience will rank more highly in SERPs.

Google Page Experience Explained

Page experience is a set of signals that measure the online user’s interaction with the page. This extends beyond its value simply in terms of information provision.

These signals are referred to as Core Web Vitals and include:

• LCP or Largest Contentful Paint = loading performance/speed
• FID or First Input Delay = page interactivity
• CLS or Cumulative Layout Shift = visual stability of the page

Ranking signals also include:

• HTTPS
• mobile optimization
• browsing security
• …and more

Furthermore, this major Google algorithm amendment places a greater focus a website content, in terms of value, relevance, quality, and optimization.

You must:

• Choose an SEO agency that understands the tools available to analyze Core Web Vitals.
• Deliver a safe browsing experience for your website audience.
• Optimize your site for mobile for Android and iOS devices.
• Secure your site with HTTPS
• Mitigate the risks of interstitial pages or pop-ups compromising your web page accessibility.

Page speed also has a massive impact on user experience and is one of the biggest factors that these algorithmic amendments will affect and consider for future ranking purposes. As Ike Elimsa, CEO of Twelve12, explains, “To borrow from what Tom Cruise’s character Maverick said in Top Gun, Google ‘feels the need for speed’.  While a fast-loading site has always given a better user experience, it is now even more important to achieve this since Google is rewarding faster sites within its ranking algorithm.”

The Next Step?

Partnering with the right digital marketing and SEO company had never been more important if you wish to thrive and succeed online.

Hiring an expert with the expertise and skillset to help you overcome these algorithmic changes to achieve and maintain high SERPs ranks.

Are you ready to take the next step?