THE MAJOR GOOGLE UPDATES THAT HAVE IMPACTED SEO | SEARCH MUNKY The Google algorithm is updated a few thousand times every year. These unnoticeable changes are usually accompanied by a major annual update, redefining how all websites are ranked. That's why it is important to know more about what these updates are, their effects and what can be done to prepare for future updates. Want to see if an update has affected your website? You can do so easily with a good SEO checker online. Why, though, does the algorithm need so many updates? Google is the world's leading search engine because of its accuracy and speed. With its cutting-edge algorithm, even complex searches can be conducted in less than a second. But to maintain that efficiency, the algorithm has to be updated frequently. Here are some of the major updates. Panda Update, 2011
This update aimed to punish websites with repeating content and poor user metrics. Named after Googler Navneet Panda, this update counteracted the decrease in search quality after the previous Caffeine update (which focused more on the search speed). Websites with repetitive content and poor backlink profiles were the most affected. User metrics were majorly used for the first time in this update to target websites with repeating content and lower user retention. Mobilegeddon update, 2015
This update ranked mobile-friendly websites higher, incentivizing a better user experience for mobile users. With the surge in mobile searches, Google, for the first time, started to consider a website's 'mobile-friendliness'. So websites that didn't use flash, had 'mobile friendly' font size and used content that could be adapted to different sizes were preferred. Medic Update, 2018