Google is no longer entertaining irrelevant and unreliable websites. Every year it updates the algorithm to make search more user-friendly and dependable.
Mostly unnoticed, the Google algorithm updates create many hurdles for marketers. Ranking for keywords becomes challenging unless all the criteria of google search are met.
Like every year, in 2022, Google rolled out some major algorithm updates that every brand has to follow irrespective of their industry.
Read the entire blog to understand the google algorithm updates 2022.
How do Google algorithms work?
Decoding Google algorithms is the dream of many marketers, but sadly, understanding them is not an easy task. The algorithms keep on changing almost every day. But, as people say – nothing is impossible!
Although difficult, the search engine algorithms can unravel. All one needs to do is to stay updated with the trends.
Coming to the question of how the Google algorithm works, well, nobody knows a definite answer to it. The reasons are:
- Codes & algorithms are confidential for all businesses, and for Google, it is further reserved as over 4.3 billion people worldwide use it as their primary search engine.
- If the functionality of the algorithms is exposed, there’s a high chance of marketers misusing the data in their favor.
Although the process of how the Google algorithm works is unclear, the company notifies its audiences of the core algorithm updates and policies that have to be followed by everyone.
Google Algorithm Updates 2022
There have been many interesting updates in the year 2022. With the core update in May, many websites worldwide have been impacted, and there are visible changes in the trends of google search results.
Let’s dive deep and understand every google algorithm made so far in the year 2022
#1 May 2022 – Core Update (Confirmed)
Danny Sullivan, Google’s Public Liaison for Google Search, announced the “Broad Core Update“ on May 25, 2022
He quotes,
“Core updates are changes we make to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web. While nothing is a core update specific to any particular site, these updates may produce some noticeable changes to how sites perform…”
Key Takeaways –
- The update targets all kinds of content (the term ‘broad’ itself suggests there will be no specific targeting).
- There is no penalty for the low-performing sites from the update; reassessment will be done to all the web pages to find improvements since the last core update in November 2021.
- After the rollout in June 2022, there were high spikes and drops in the site rankings.
- More focus has to be given to producing better quality & relevant results to deal with the update.
- The impacted sites have to work on the resolution of the issues, although it might be a slower process till the next core update.
#2 March 2022 – Product Review Update (Confirmed)
The third version of the product review update was announced on March 23, 2022, and rolled out two weeks later on April 11, 2022.
Key Takeaways –
- The update did not have much impact on the product review results.
- The main objective of the update was to promote genuine reviews and nothing like the regular information seen in the product review section.
- The reviews that lack proper information will be pushed down (note – it is not a penalty, but higher quality information will be given more priority).
- What will work,
- Reviews from people who have used the products.
- Videos, images & graphics to show the product features & results.
- Detailed explanation on the manufacturer or the seller.
- Genuine & real-time feedback on the product.
#3 March 2022 – Spring Update (Unconfirmed)
There are still discussions on this unconfirmed Google algorithm update.
Since March 18, many websites/pages have seen sudden fluctuations in their rankings. There might be a chance that a minor change in the algorithm caused the rapid variations.
#4 February 2022 – Page Experience Update (Desktop) (Confirmed)
Except for the mobile-friendly aspect, the results on desktop and mobile phones are considered the same per the algorithm update on February 22, 2022.
Key Takeaways –
- The update focuses on the importance of UX (User Experience) and SEO-friendliness of a site.
- Core web vitals, i.e., cumulative layout shift, first input delay, largest contentful paint, HTTPS security, etc., have to be a precedence.
- Creating a great page experience is the ultimate aim of this update.
#5 Other Updates
Some other updates which were suspected by most marketers happened on February 5, 2022, & January 10, 2022
In February, most marketers saw a sudden shift in the curves & graphs of the keyword results in the tracking tools.
January algorithm update is also unconfirmed. Though marketers suspect a chatter spike up.
How to make your website ready for Google algorithm updates?
It is undeniable that a website organically has more value than paid results. But with frequent algorithm changes, ranking organically becomes a major challenge.
With all the updates, all one can do is make their website semantic and user-friendly. The websites’ data must be intended to give the required information.
The website data and the information in the map results and product section must be made precisely for the users.
Wrapping up
There are six more months in the year 2022. Possibly there might be more Google algorithm updates. Some might have a great impact on the rankings & results, while some might filter deserving websites and help them go to the top of SERP.
As digital marketers, we at Vihaan Digitals keep up with the search engine algorithms and give the best for all our clients.
Want to get your website to the top of the SERP? Let our experts help you out! – https://vihaandigitals.com/contact-us/
