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Google is fond of making the lives of small businesses difficult, on a regular basis, by changing the search algorithm of their search engine. The eccentricity will result in rule changes for SEO or Search Engine Optimization, no matter how big or famous your business is.
It will also cause severe problems for many companies, especially to start-up and small companies that don’t have a lot of money to spend on website redesigns. Web-conscious companies build their sites with BI or business intelligence and Search Engine Optimization in mind. Following good SEO practices can help any company get a good ranking position in Google search engine.
(Want to know more about SEO and its history? Visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization.)
Google Penguin
The Penguin algorithm is one of Google’s latest algorithm. The algorithm tries to minimize the website’s search engine rankings that breach the Webmaster Guidelines set by Google. As a result, the top of the ranking is now occupied by quality websites.
Penguin algorithm aims to get rid of “spammy” websites in search engines. In 2013, Penguin 2.0 was released, and in 2014, Penguin 3.0 followed. Every time there’s an update in the algorithm, it means there will be changes, whether big or small, in the way websites are ranked in the search engines.
The year-by-year situation has been more difficult as the years pass by, as Google announced that it would be applying further changes to their Penguin algorithm in real-time, so even Search Engine Optimization experts would not get much notification before the change in the ranking is implemented. Penguin 5.0 was released at the end of 2015, and Google kept it quite to make website owners, as well as SEO companies caught off guard with all the changes.
The core algorithm was finally released in January 2015 which gives some confusion with the Penguin 4.0 update. But according to Google, the two have separate changes. Since March 2015, changes in Google algorithm were implemented. Before Penguin 5.0 was released, speculations arose that changes will be an initial test for the Penguin 4.0 update.
Speculations also suggest that it was a Google Panda update that focuses on lowering the search engine ranking of lower-tiered sites, rather than “spammy” websites. It is said to be a violation in Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Google’s Panda algorithm is released on a gradual basis. According to anecdotal information, small changes are occurring within the algorithm, at least not on a permanent basis.
Since March 2015, evidence shows that there have been changes in the algorithm, but Google kept it secret, although technically, details have been released on how the change in Penguin algorithm will affect website owners, Search Engine Optimization experts and even frequent users. We have compiled some suggestions that can help start-up companies, as well as small businesses, compete despite the constant changes in the Google algorithm
Content is king
Content is still the king, even Game of Thrones would not dare to kill. Google gives importance to compelling and fresh content when it comes to search engine rankings. If you need your site to be ranked higher, you need to publish quality, new, and fresh content on your site as much as possible.
Making quality content is referred to as RankBrain by Google. You need to understand that the content is not just a bunch of long-tailed keywords. Google is giving importance to real-world and compelling materials. A content that writers usually make and readers typically read. Google is trying to minimize, if not get rid of abusive people who takes advantage of the algorithm.
Alternately, Google is trying to take advantage of technology and use artificial intelligence as well as machine learning to assess and differentiate real content from fake ones. Think of it this way: If you are making quality content for your site that will attract traffic, and you regularly post content on a daily basis, there’s a big chance that you will get a better ranking.
(If you want to know more about Google RankBrain, click here.)
Always monitor ranking changes
Are some of your site pages gone up and down in rankings since March 2015? If the answer is yes, you need to review the pages concerning specifications set by Google.
If you know whether the search rankings of your site go up or down, you still need to consider the traffic logs of your site and see if there’s a significant change in the traffic in specific pages initially from Google. You need to compare traffic from January, February, and early March with new traffic from late March and April.
You need to check your competition from time to time
Even if your business is just a startup or you own a small business, you can be sure of one thing: You have a lot of competition. While it is true that it is quite annoying in many ways, as far as Search Engine Optimization goes, it is a boon.
You can increase your ranking by getting help from an SEO company and by effectively understanding and monitoring how your closest competition is doing within a defined business niche. You need to focus all your studies and effort on changes in popular keywords. Not only that, but you also need to focus on how sites are designed and what kind of contents they are promoting.
Go mobile
Through the years, Google has been penalizing sites that are not mobile-friendly. A few years back, Google announced that they would be giving more importance on the website that is mobile-friendly, in their rankings. Google provides helpful tools that users can use to determine whether your site is mobile-friendly or not.
If they are already mobile -friendly, it is time for you to embrace the small screens. Algorithm change in favor of mobile sites was also known as “mobilegeddon” because the changes could be viewed as an Armageddon for websites that are not mobile ready.
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