What is a Google algorithm update?

A dataset or type of code called a “Google algorithm” determines the requirements for showing up in Google search results. The primary goal of Google is to give people access to the most useful and pertinent information so that they can make informed decisions. Google bots use machine learning, among a plethora of other criteria, to identify high-quality material in order to serve up what is most beneficial to the user.

The results that are returned when a query is typed into the Google search engine are produced as a result of these algorithm tweaks and modifications. Type “dog grooming products” into Google, and these results will have been approved by Google as quality and authoritative results to assist the user in achieving their goal since they have satisfied specific criteria.

By ensuring that the websites with the most relevant content appear at the top of the page, Google’s algorithm changes work to increase the relevancy of the results. These updates are released throughout the year, each year, and with increasing regularity in order to consistently stay up with how people search and rising demand.

Major changes are so important to Google’s search engine’s core that they have titles. Penguin, Panda, and Hummingbird are names you may be familiar with. These were all fundamental algorithm changes that have been in effect for a while and have altered how marketers all over the world approach SEO and other search-related operations.

Increasing frequency of algorithm updates.

The number of algorithm modifications rose in 2022, with the spam update in the winter of that year being the most recent. Businesses with poor content or artificial links might be affected by this upgrade and will be seeing the results of it now. We anticipate that updates will be made more frequently than ever in 2023.
The digital world is currently undergoing rapid change, making it more important than ever for Google to stay on top of things.

AI-generated content.

AI-generated material is now more accessible than ever before, thanks to the growing popularity of tools like ChatGTP. Since Google’s foundation is based on natural language, authority, and quality, we anticipate that this year’s major core improvements will be concentrated on degrading companies that use machine-generated content.

AI-generated content comes with a number of issues, including:

The credibility.
AI bots scour through a range of websites they believe to be reliable sources to build your response, which is then returned programmatically. The risk in doing this is relying on a robot to think rationally and accurately grasp the information. The content isn’t as accurate as it would be if it were studied and written by a human because bots frequently use unreliable sources or misinterpret requests.

Duplication.
With AI-generated material, duplication is also highly feasible in addition to the trustworthiness issue. AI bots are being developed to quickly rewrite a large amount of data. However, they will always face obstacles. There are only so many various ways a bot can rewrite text to still make it relevant and make sense when thousands of individuals are asking the same queries.

Human language.
As we previously covered, Google’s primary goal is to give people the most pertinent and beneficial information. Additionally, it must be written in a natural and genuine manner. The contrasts between articles produced by a robot and a person become increasingly obvious when the two are compared side by side because bots do not have the same capacity for writing in “human language.”

E-E-A-T

Google is now introducing the concept of E-E-A-T, which stands for:

  • Experience
  • Expertise
  • Authoritativeness
  • Trustworthiness

We truly believe that firms that have built online authority by creating truthful, distinctive, and educational content will succeed in 2023 and beyond. Businesses with in-house, fostered content that has built a foundation of trust and knowledge over time will continue to be rewarded in the search rankings.

While those who have trouble adhering to the E-E-A-T paradigm will probably face consequences.

Our take: “In 2023, Google will place an even greater emphasis on helpful material. Many websites have been optimised via unethical methods or by unqualified marketers since COVID and ‘digital marketing’ demand rose. Many of the methods they use aim to influence the system rather than giving the reader a response that will inspire faith in them. It is now incredibly easy to swiftly create a large number of pages with a sole focus on rankings and no concern for the value to the user thanks to the advancements in AI and machine learning. The usage of black hat SEO tactics and non-user created content will take a huge hit in 2023.” – Charlii Gledhill | Digital Marketing Team Lead, Laser Red.

Mobile-first indexing.

For indexing and ranking purposes, Google primarily uses a site’s mobile version of material that has been crawled by a smartphone agent. While mobile-first indexing has been around since 2019, we predict its importance more than ever for 2023. Some websites with poor mobile experience are downgraded in SERPS, while the desktop version might still rank well. Over time it is likely that the continuous impact of mobile-first indexing will start to deplete rankings across devices.

The performance of your site in search results shouldn’t be significantly affected by this change if your mobile and desktop versions are equivalent—for example if you’ve optimised your content for mobile and employed responsive design.

It does, however, signal a fundamental shift in how Google views your website’s content and how to order crawling and indexation.

What Google Algorithm changes mean for your business website.

As we previously covered, Google constantly modifies and upgrades its algorithms to guarantee the best search results. However, these changes have significantly disrupted how websites rank. A business’s organic growth may be substantially harmed by some updates, depending on their size and type, while others may have just a little influence and require little recovery time.

Companies and webmasters frequently receive advance notice before the release of big updates so they may better plan for impending changes. However, there are ongoing, little updates that occur practically every day that can still affect where you appear in SERPs.

What you can do now, to beat the expected updates in 2023:

  • Keep up with industry news and trends
    Google will announce all of its core updates before they come into force. It will therefore give you prior notice to anything which could damage your website authority and rankings.
  • Monitor any changes in traffic over time
    Data is key to staying abreast with trends, understanding your website data inside out, where your current rankings are, domain authority, traffic sources and engagement rates are important matrices to monitor on a regular basis. This way you will have a greater understanding of what impact any updates are having, even the minor daily ones.
  • Enlist a digital marketer
    Your business is going to be busy in 2023, while staying up to date with the Google algorithm updates is a full-time job. Enrolling a digital marketing agency that is clued up with the latest tech to track changes and knowledge to forecast the updates will be worth their weight in gold this year.
  • Don’t fall into the AI trap
    While there is a lot of news and hype around AI, don’t fall into the trap of generating digital content for your website using these pieces of technology. They are great for idea generation, mind block and padding out your content, but never copy and paste direct from the source (regardless of the intention of the copy). Keep your content natural and add your own personality to it, Google will definitely reward the authenticity.
  • Ensure your mobile website is performing just as well as your desktop
    Many business owners and decision-makers will only ever view their own websites via a laptop or desktop PC. This could be damaging as they are unaware of how well the mobile version is performing. Google Analytics, amongst other software, will provide a clear idea of how up-to-date and compliant your mobile version of your website is.
  • User experience is everything
    In a bid to provide users with the most relevant content, Google needs websites to provide users with a good experience (UX). Content plays a huge part of this, but how easy that content is to navigate, digest and reach is just as important.
Conclusion

In conclusion, human involvement in the digital world is decreasing, but this does not mean that Google wants our results to be based solely on whose bot created the best content. This year, personality and authenticity will be highly valued, while professional and personal opinions may see some brands outperform others. Understanding the wants and demands of the customer will be more crucial than ever.