Are you a business owner with an online brand? If yes, you are probably aware of the different updates Google rolls out every now and then. But do you know which one affects you the most?
For small businesses, following Google updates is crucial because it can affect your search engine rankings. Staying on top of these changes will not only assure you a steady online visibility but also take advantage of new opportunities for business growth.
Here are three Google updates that matters most to small brands.
- Google Hummingbird update
Launched in 2013, Hummingbird still remains as a big ranking factor these days because it focuses on unique content. The concept behind the update is simple.
Google Senior Vice President Amit Singhal said that, “The algorithm can make use of more complex search requests and has a better understanding of the concept of human language, rather than a few scattered words. This new algorithm is a big step forward in the Internet history as searches will be more ‘human friendly’ than ever. Google is able to do this by expanding upon their capabilities for semantic search.”
Meaning, keyword-focused content no longer works. Google now prioritizes websites with original, high-quality content. The age of keyword stuffing is over and the demand for valuable content is now king.
- Google mobile-friendly update
In April 2015, Google rolled out an update rolled that caused quite a stir in the digital marketing sphere. Google released a mobile-friendly ranking algorithm that helped improve mobile-friendly pages in the search results of Google. Marketers even named it ‘mobilegeddon’ because the change, although simple in nature, made drastic impacts on search. One of the best ways to check if your site adheres to this update was to run your site using the search engine’s Mobile-Friendly Test Tool. Unfortunately, in early 2024, Google discontinued their Tool. However, the team at Experte, have developed their alternative – Bulk Mobile Friendly Test, that can be used just as easily and directly in your browser. Instead of testing a single page, this tool crawls the entire website and determines the mobile friendliness of each page. The best part? This tool is free and can be used without registration. If your website isn’t ranking where you’d like, maybe it’s time to contact us and request a quote for a redesign!
- Google Panda update
The Panda update is another game-changer in the online marketing arena. Closely related to Hummingbird, what Panda does is that it targets ‘low-quality content’, basically identifying websites with ‘thin’ content (not enough content), duplicate content, and ‘spun’ content (machine-generated content). If you think your website is lacking useful content, changing your content strategy to value-focused is essential if you want to strengthen your online brand.
