Google Algorithm Cheat Sheet: The Ultimate Google Search Trick

Google’s ranking algorithm is difficult to beat. But it’s feasible. Understanding Google’s practice targets from each release is key.

Here’s a guide.

I’ll describe a quick timeline of Google upgrades and show you some tried-and-true Google search hacks to keep (or increase) your ranks with every update.

This essay is a must-read for algorithm update beginners. See the table of contents below to skip ahead.

• Know Google Algorithm Ranking Factors?
• Google algorithm updates: how often?
• My Brief Google Algorithm Update History
• Google Algorithm Updates You Should Know
• How Do I Know When Google Updates Algorithms?
• How to Tell Which Google Algorithm Update Hit Your Website
• Google’s Algorithm: Different from Others?
• Success using Google’s Algorithm
• Know Google Algorithm Ranking Factors?
• Google’s algorithm and ranking variables are our starting point.

Actually, it’s not much.

This is because Google won’t share its top ranking variables. Thus, no one knows what to check to rank well. That stated, here are the ranking elements we know:

Fast websites provide a good user experience, thus Google likes them. Your rankings may suffer if your website loads slowly.

Google rewards content relevancy. Use relevant keywords and generate content around them, but don’t clutter your website with them.

Website design: Make your website easy to use.

Backlinks are crucial to ranking, but not just any links will do. Quality links from reputable websites important.

Mobile-friendliness: Google ranks and indexes your website’s mobile version first.

HTTPS, Google prefers secure websites for trust. Your ranking can improve with an SSL certificate because HTTPS is more secure.

User engagement: Finally, Google may punish websites with high bounce rates for bad user experience.

Google algorithm updates: how often?

Google tweaks its ranking algorithm frequently. They could release many updates in 24 hours.

Google search modifications are usually minor, so page ranks generally don’t decline.

Not so with “core” updates. Google makes significant, sweeping adjustments a few times a year that can affect page performance.

Expect a core upgrade once or twice a year.

My Brief Google Algorithm Update History

My brief Google algorithm update history follows. Here are the most important Google Algorithm Updates, arranged by publication date, with clickable hyperlinks for more information. Google adjusts its algorithm daily, but these large-scale updates have had a lasting impact on Google and SEOs:

• Search October 2023 Generative Experience
• FAQ and How-to, September 2023
• April 2023 Product Review Update
• Link Spam Update, Oct 2022
• August 2022 Helpful Content Update
• October 26, 2015, Google RankBrain
• September 26, 2013, Google Hummingbird
• Penguin, April 24, 2012
• Panda-Google, February 24, 2011

Google Algorithm Updates You Should Know

Here are some past Google algorithm updates and their effects on ranking methods to help you comprehend them.

Find Generative Experience

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is a platform overhaul, not an algorithm tweak. SGE is a novel search method that leverages generative AI to answer questions and follow up.

SGE links users to information and helps them continue their searches. Booking a ticket or shopping online are examples. Consider the scenario above. Users can click on one of the links below to learn more about Bryce Canyon, ask automatically generated follow-up questions, or reserve a ticket.

Not everyone can utilize SGE yet. SGE requires opt-in and is only available in the U.S.

Changes to How-To and FAQ

Google displayed rich search results like FAQs and How-Tos differently with this August 2023 update and September 2023 upgrade.

Google lowered FAQ-rich and How-To-rich results on desktop and mobile devices. Since September 13, Google no longer displays How-To rich results on desktop.

The FAQ-rich results will come from “well-known, authoritative government and health websites.”

Websites don’t need to remove structured data that highlights FAQs and How-Tos, but doing so won’t affect rankings.

Product Review Update

The April 2023 Product Review Update emphasizes experience. It emphasizes Google’s new content quality guidelines, E-E-A-T. It prioritizes review content that goes beyond formulaic results. Google says its system will favour certain product reviews in search results.

Writing product evaluations requires extra effort to be informed and useful. Increasing experience with:

• Original photos, not stock pictures
• Audio experience: Original audio may improve accessibility.
• Experience: Product use proof
• Quantitative measurements: Product performance tracking
• Link Spam Update

Google updated websites that buy and sell links from October 19 to 21, 2022. Google first employed SpamBrain, an AI-powered spam detector.

Previously purchased links lost their benefits. John Mueller of Google declared on X (previously Twitter) that spammy links did not need manual disavow.

Keep your link profile clean to avoid this upgrade. Future link generation should be white hat and not bought.

Useful Content Update

The August 2022 Google Helpful information Update promotes websites with high-quality information for visitors. The top search results should contain valuable and interesting content that Google thinks consumers would like. When generating material, prioritize quality and usability.

Since December 5, 2022, the update has stretched to all languages from English pages.

Google RankBrain

Google announced RankBrain, a Hummingbird enhancement, in 2015. Page rankings depend on whether they meet search intent. This means it promotes the most relevant and informative material for a term or search query.

To satisfy RankBrain, research each keyword’s user intent and write high-quality content.

Google Hummingbird

This 2013 ranking algorithm upgrade attempted to match keywords with content users sought. It sought to humanize search engines and place the most useful stuff on the top page.

In response, marketers increased keyword variations and relevant search words to fulfill reader expectations.

Google Penguin

This 2012 update targeted “black hat” SEO practices like link directories and spamming backlinks. This update targeted term stuffing like Panda.

The idea was to focus on high-quality content that generates meaningful, engaging links rather than link volume to increase search ranking.

Google Panda

This 2011 SEO algorithm change targeted keyword stuffing and duplicate content. A “quality score” ranked web sites based on how people would perceive the material, not how many keywords it included.

Marketers have to generate instructional, high-quality content, rework underperforming articles, and strategically employ keywords to “survive” Google Panda.

How Do I Know When Google Updates Algorithms?

There’s no need to watch every Google ranking algorithm change. However, you must watch fundamental updates to adjust your SEO strategy.

Start with a Google Alert for algorithm updates. Google Alerts will notify you of SEO algorithm updates in your inbox so you can prepare immediately.

Following Google SearchLiaison on X (previously Twitter). This official account posts core algorithm updates. After Google Alerts stopped working on social media, you can follow this account to watch ranking algorithm changes:

Please read the official notifications to understand how these SEO algorithm updates effect you. You can also learn about planned Google upgrades to improve your SEO strategy.

Third, Google Analytics can detect ranking algorithm modifications. For instance, Google Analytics can notice odd traffic and conversion swings. Check your performance to discover if a Google algorithm change has “affected” you.

Finally, use MozCast or Accuranker’s Google Grump for algorithm statistics. These tools monitor Google algorithm changes regularly to help marketers like you remain ahead.

Grump lets you follow algorithm changes by device, so if you’ve noticed a decline in mobile traffic or conversions, you can use it to see if Google’s “grumpier” than usual, which signals a ranking algorithm change:

How to Tell Which Google Algorithm Update Hit Your Website

Anyone observed a sharp drop in traffic? An SEO algorithm adjustment may be to blame. The two best techniques to discover which website update hit you and how to recover from penalties are:

First, visit Google Search Central (previously Webmasters). Multiple resources on this platform help diagnose typical performance issues and algorithm penalties.

Next, open Google Search Console, a free analytics tool. Search Console can help you find mobile usability issues or track site performance.

These tools make tracking Google algorithm updates for SEO easy.

Google’s Algorithm: Different from Others?

Yes. For instance, we don’t know how often Bing or Yahoo alter their algorithms, but Google does.

Key ranking elements for Bing are also more transparent:

• Metadata
• Page load time
• Quality and quantity of backlinks

Understanding the Bing SEO algorithm and adapting your plan is easier.

Yahoo, like Bing, has a straightforward and informative guide to help marketers understand their search engine algorithm and important ranking elements.

Success using Google’s Algorithm

Ready to master Google’s algorithm and improve page rankings? Use these 13 Google search tips.

1. Optimise Mobile

To rank on Google’s mobile-first index, you must optimize your website for mobile.

The SmallSEOTools Mobile-Friendly Test lets you enter your URL and study the results to see how your website looks on mobile devices. For instance, mine:

2. Check Your Internal Links

Next, verify internal links. Are they all functional and link to current content? If not, update the links and redirect them to useful topics to improve website usability.

Quality internal links boost ranks.

3. Increase User Engagement

User involvement counts. After all, high traffic is excellent, but high bounce rates are not.

Do good keyword research to answer the proper search intent, and load your website with trustworthy content to keep users interested. Hack the Google algorithm using this.

4. Shorten Site Load

Slow website loading times hurt user experience and Google rankings. Check your page loading times with Google PageSpeed Insights:

Slowing site loading.

After the analysis, Google will suggest page speed improvements.

5. Avoid Duplicate Content

It doesn’t matter how much copy you have, duplicate content on your website can cost you.

Detect duplicate material with Duplicate Page Finder. Enter the URLs to compare, review the results, and make changes.

Siteliner lets you check your URL to determine whether someone else is using your content:

6. Make Informative Content

Google assumes you answered a search query if someone stays on your website. You create useful, informative stuff.

The result? Higher page ranks than shallow or search intent-less articles.

7. Avoid Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is using the same keyword many times to increase ranking. Content like this is distracting and hard to read, and Google penalizes it.

Avoid keyword stuffing to please Google. Use keywords naturally in the writing.

8. Avoid Overoptimization

SEO matters, but not too much. Avoid buying links, overoptimizing anchor text, and including irrelevant links in your article.

Effective SEO and over-optimization are challenging to balance, however avoiding aggressive link-building and black hat strategies might help.

9. Improve Site Navigation

Always put user experience first:

Simplifying website navigation

Site map creation

Making sure all navigation links work

10. Improve Page Security

Switch from HTTP to HTTPS now. HTTPS webpages are safer and more reliable. Marketing-wise, it’s worth it because Google ranks trustworthy websites higher.

You just need to acquire an SSL certificate, install it on your hosting account, and change your URLs to HTTPS.

11. Revamp Old Content

Google’s ranking algorithm changes, so keep your content current. One option is to regularly update and renew old content. Add new content, address problems, and make sure it’s relevant to your audience.

Updating outdated material can boost your search engine ranking, attract new visitors, and retain existing ones. If you haven’t changed your content recently, do so now!

12. Check Website Metrics Often

Website metrics are a major predictor of SEO algorithm updates. Have your opinions dropped suddenly? Are you getting enormous organic traffic suddenly? The algorithm may reward or penalize your website based on its new guidelines.

13. Track Google Algorithm Updates Externally

Use blogs and websites that track Google search updates if you’re having problems keeping up. These may help:

Neil Patel Blog: I often mention Google algorithm upgrades, so check back if you suspect one.

For historical reference and trend prediction, Moz keeps a short, up-to-date ranking algorithm update history.

Semrush Sensor: Tracks search result volatility for updates.

Frequently asked questions

What algorithm powers Google Search?

Several things make up Google’s algorithms. It evolves with the web and user behaviour. Some factors it considers are:
Relevance: The user’s query terms, the web page’s content, and external links determine relevance.
Quality: Author skill, information accuracy, and user experience.
Popularity: Page links, visits, and page time.
Freshness: Update frequency and date.
To match users with appropriate results, look at their IP address or device location settings.

Why are Google algorithm upgrades crucial for website owners?

Google algorithm updates alter website ranking elements. Website owners must consider them because they can boost traffic and visibility. These improvements attempt to increase search results’ relevance and quality, therefore website owners must adjust their techniques to retain or improve their ranking.

How often and why does Google alter its algorithms?

Google makes modest algorithm modifications daily and major updates many times a year. These modifications aim to improve search results by providing more accurate, relevant, and valuable information. This penalizes low-quality content and rewards user-focused sites.

Which Google algorithm updates have been noteworthy recently?

Long history of Google algorithm updates. Major upgrades in recent years include:
Product Review Update (April 2023)
Update on Link Spam (October 2022)
Helpful Content Update (August 2022)

How can website owners track Google algorithm changes?
Website owners can keep informed about Google algorithm updates by setting up a Google Alert, following Google SearchLiaison on X (previously Twitter), or reading industry publications.

What should businesses and website owners do after a Google algorithm update?

You should take various steps after an algorithm update:
Review the update details to understand its focus.
Check your website analytics for traffic or ranking changes.
Based on the update, alter website content, design, and SEO.
Think before you act. Choose data-driven judgments.
Monitor industry responses and best practices.

Are there ways to recover from an update-related search ranking drop?

Recovery from an algorithm update is challenging, but there are ways to boost your chances:
Conduct a thorough website audit to find improvements.
Produce high-quality, user-focused content.
Improve page speed and mobile-friendliness.
Build respectable backlinks.
Website updates and optimization should follow SEO best practices.

Conclusion

The conclusion? Google adjusts its algorithm frequently, which can impact your SEO approach. When Google releases its next core update, read up on how it may affect your page rankings. If you need help, check out my consulting services.

Finally, create rich, valuable content for consumers, correct broken links, replace low-quality backlinks with fresh ones, and install an SSL certificate if you don’t have one to avoid algorithm penalties.