Is Google’s New Algorithm A Boon Or Bane For SEO?

“Quality First” has been the driving force for the internet and search engine giant Google, especially regarding content that their users find on their search engine. This is one of the reasons why Google invests heavily in their search algorithms and why marketers worldwide keep seeing new Google algorithm updates every now and then.

With the latest Google algorithm update 2021, Google believes it has taken yet another positive stride towards delivering its quality first promise to its ever-growing user base.

What was supposed to be rolled out in 2020 itself, thanks to COVID 19 pandemic, Google had rolled out over 8 search algorithm updates across June and July this year. In fact, this was perhaps the first time the company had actually been speaking about the latest Google algorithm update for about a year before the actual updated got rolled out.

On a constant mission to roll out all low-quality content sites, the recent Google algorithm update has again gotten every SEO marketer on their toes to ensure that their website and content do not suffer much.

From the time they started to today, with their latest Google SEO update, Google has also come a long way and made it that much more difficult to get any ordinary content higher up in the ranking pages.

Every algorithm update brings in a certain amount of unrest amongst the marketing community, SEO specialists, and the leadership team with most organizations. With most businesses unsure of how the Google new core update would affect the performance of their platforms, the unrest is but natural.

However, the new Google algorithm update 2021 seems to have created a ripple, unlike most from the past. Given the above, let’s try and figure out if Google’s new algorithm is a boon or a bane?

What Is A Google Algorithm

The Google search algorithm comprises multiple sets of complex algorithms used by Google to retrieve and search data from its search index, ranking and returning the most relevant results for any search query on Google. These algorithms use various ranking factors to determine the ranking for all the data from the search index before the results get published quickly.

Google search algorithm forms the backbone for the most used and most popular search engine that exists in our world today. With the regular updates, Google simply ensures that lesser and lesser loopholes are available for marketers to capitalize on to improve their web ranking.

This directly contributes to improving the page experience index for the consumers that visit Google, thus helping in enhancing their trust in Google.

Google Algorithm Update History

The latest Google algorithm is not the first time that Google has released these updates. In fact, if one looks into the history of Google algorithm updates, the number of updates that Google comes up with now is way more than what it started with. Today, with all big and small updates put together, Google comes out with thousands of updates every year.

These updates are slowly but steadily reducing the grey areas that many marketers could use to boost their traffic and page ranking. Today, finding a loophole to capitalize on and increase one’s web ranking without a good website and consistent quality web content.

The first major update from Google was in 2010 called the Caffeine Index update, which helped boost the speed of listing search results for users and helped publish their content seen faster.

This was also perhaps the first year when a major update came out from Google and the start of many updates from then on. A part of the “speed up the Internet” campaign, this update, together with speed as a primary criterion for web ranking on Google, helped improve the web experiences vastly.

In 2011 came Panda update, the first update on Google ranking that started penalizing websites for keyword stuffing, thus taking the first concrete step towards their mission of serving quality content and disciplining spammy and low-quality content.

2012 was a year in Google algorithm history when Google released 3 major updates in the same year. Named Penguin, Venice, and Pirate, these updates were significant and helped improve the end-user experience with Google.

While Penguin targeted websites that had webspam, Venice helped with search results for products and services, thus helping smaller businesses to compete with more prominent brands. Pirate was related to preventing copyright infringement from websites.

From 2013 until the present year, there has been at least 1 significant release every year, all targeted to deliver quality results to customers.

From Possum to Medic to Bert, each has substantially affected the consumer experience and has helped them enjoy the cleaner and more relevant results for their searches on Google.

Each has resulted in SEO marketers incorporating some changes to their work but definitely resulting in better outcomes.

Is Google’s New Algorithm A Boon Or Bane For SEO?

Every time Google’s new algorithm for SEO gets released, it has historically created a lot of unrest with SEO experts, marketers, and business owners alike.

While the first impression of most of these changes has always been the feeling of it being a bane, these changes seem to have helped the brand in the long run. The response to the latest Google algorithm change, too, is no different from the past.

With Google’s new algorithm for SEO, too, only those who have not been focusing on quality content would ultimately help the end-users and support the brand build an impression on their consumers.

How does one know if Google’s new search algorithm is a bane for the brand or not? The answer to this is that any algorithm change can either work for a website or work against it.

This can be achieved simply by observing the kind of traffic one is experiencing on their site. Observe if there is a drop in the overall traffic, compare the numbers to data available for the past.

A good practice is also to compare the traffic to a similar time from the previous year too. Depending on the kind of results one observes, you can determine what changes you would need to incorporate to make the latest Google algorithm change a boon for you.

Remember, the best way to make any latest Google algorithm update a bane for the brand is to ensure that you consistently publish quality content for the consumers and publish them regularly.

When it comes to web ranking and traffic through Google, there are no shortcuts to success, and take the proper steps consistently, and Google’s new algorithm can never be a bane for your brand.