Google uses an algorithm to determine the value/authority of a website, how the website is technically constructed, how user-friendly the website is and to what extent the website answers questions that searchers have. In total, Google looks at 250 factors to determine the ranking of a website. Google keeps the precise content and operation of this algorithm strictly confidential, but it is clear that the human aspect and the quality of the content (to what extent does the website provide a useful answer to a searcher's question) are becoming increasingly important. A text that is difficult to read due to an excessive use of keywords will lose out to an easily readable text that meets the user's wishes. This algorithm, which assesses the user-friendliness of websites and determines the ranking of websites in Google, is continuously adjusted. It is therefore important to continuously monitor these adjustments in order to continue to score high in Google.
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Penguin and Panda
Sometimes these are major adjustments, such as the famous Penguin and Panda updates. The Penguin update assesses the quality of links between websites with the aim of preventing abuse. For example, the Panda update (which is not named after the animal, but after the Google engineer who devised the update) excludes low-quality websites from the search results in favor of good-quality websites. This not only concerns Content Farms (a website with many pages that are purely made to be found in Google), but all sites whose content is of low quality. It is therefore not the case that sites with good quality content are rated higher by Panda. Panda only limits the scoring power of low-quality websites. As a result of these updates, Google Search, the search engine, is constantly changing. For example, in 2021, Google made more than 5,000 changes to Search. In addition, Google conducted more than 800,000 experiments and tests. This concerns changes in the ranking system, the user interface and more. This means that Google Search changes at an average of 13 times a day!
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What does this mean in concrete terms?
Not every change is equally important, but what is clear is the trend towards 'honest' and user-friendly websites. Google ranks websites that answer questions that searchers have and that are rated well by other websites with a high authority, higher than websites that are only made to score high in Google, are packed with search terms and have many links that come from so-called 'link farms'. This means that websites for 'real' users, which have a naturally constructed link profile and are well rated by other websites, score well in Google. This also means that scoring high in Google is a long-term process: creating good content that is meaningful to users, patiently building a natural link profile, and letting the search terms climb to the top of Google on their own. Bad news for the SEO agencies that say they will take you to the top of Google in three months, because Google quickly sees through this 'quick scoring', resulting in a penalty or temporary exclusion from the search results. For us, as upMention, this is just a confirmation of the way we have always worked, and still work: patiently, naturally, with a long-term view, and with long-lasting and successful results. Please contact us if you also want to aim for lasting long-term results and embark on this journey with us. A long journey, but one with a clear destination: the top of Google!
In tune
When a lot of noise is made, the point is not to drown it out, but to harmonize and hit the right string. That is what we stand for. A story that resonates with the right people through smart online marketing.
