How to Prepare Your Site for Google’s Next Big Algorithm Update

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Worried about the next major updates in Google’s algorithm, which can shake your search rankings and visibility? Well, Google rolled out its last major algorithm update in March 2024, which significantly shook the SEO performance of many websites, some even experiencing significant drops in organic traffic and online conversions.

However, if you think future updates can significantly drop your website’s SEO performance, then you need to prepare your site for these updates. Most importantly, you need an SEO strategy that will allow you to maintain your online rankings and visibility without being affected by these major updates.

In this article, you will explore various tactics to keep your website well-prepared for the next big updates in Google’s search engine algorithms.

What Exactly are Google’s Algorithm Updates?

Google’s algorithm updates are the changes made to the algorithm of Google’s search engine. According to the experts in SEO in Houston, the motto behind these updates is to enhance the way your content gets ranked and indexed by Google’s crawlers.

Through such updates, Google is able to improve the relevance, quality, and accuracy of search results. These updates allow Google to ensure that users get the most helpful and credible information they want.

Google is known to frequently update its search algorithm. The smaller updates are the ones that happen frequently. In fact, it rolled out 4781 updates, which seem too much to even think about.

However, it’s the major updates that have had a significant impact on the SEO performance of websites in the past. Some of these major algorithm updates include:

• Panda(2011):

Through this update, Google targeted duplicate, thin, and low-quality content.

• Penguin(2012):

This update helped Google deal with black hat tactics like manipulative link-building strategies and over-optimization.

• Hummingbird(2013):

This update paid close attention to semantic search and understanding every query’s intent.

• RankBrain(2015):

Through this update, the world was introduced to machine learning, which was further helpful in refining search engine results.

• BERT(2019):

Through this update, Google was able to understand natural language more effectively and comprehend every query and its context with due effect.

• Helpful Content Update(2022):

This content allowed Google to reward content that was genuinely produced for users, not just for search engines.

• March 2024 Core Update:

Google rolled out this core update to further improve the quality of online content. It further improved its anti-spam measures to enhance more trustworthiness.

How Google’s Algorithm Updates Affect Your SEO Campaign?

Here’s how your SEO campaigns get affected by Google’s algorithm updates:

1. It alters the way your content gets ranked in search results.
   
2. It further emphasizes the need for quality, relevance, and user experience to maintain and improve rankings.
   
3. The recent March 2024 core update lowered the presence of low-quality content in SERPs by 45%.
   
4. The recent direction of search result shifts does indicate another upcoming algorithm update.
   
5. SERP volatility, i.e. fluctuations in rankings, is an early sign of an update.
   
6. Temporary rank drops are normal during the adjustments in Google’s algorithm.

Furthermore, if you are developing content that is in line with Google’s guidelines, you will experience minimal shakedown in your SEO performance and ranings during and after updates in the algorithm.

How to Prepare Your Site for Significant Search Engine Algorithms in Future?

You may not be able to control the performance of your website during the rollout of major algorithm updates by Google, but you can, however, follow the steps mentioned below to reduce its volatility and maintain steady growth:

• Create an Effective Brand:

Users will always go for a brand that is already well-established, not the one that hasn’t established its presence online. Google also considers whether your brand is well-established and thoroughly popular or not.

A website that has already established itself is usually considered trustworthy. These kinds of websites experience minimal impact from major algorithm updates.

In addition to that, you should leverage brand searches, earn high-quality backlinks, and stay active on social media. By doing so, you will be able to develop a brand for your business online.

• Display E-E-A-T:

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and trustworthiness are the four main aspects that Google wants to be found in a website. Trust is the most important element, along with the other three aspects, which are essential for your content to get ranked on search engines.

If you are labelled as an authority by the search engine algorithm, chances of you getting impacted by algorithm updates are minimal.

The best way to showcase E-E-A-T includes:

1. Consistently offering high-quality content that offers valuable information to your target audience.
2. Showcasing your depth of knowledge and expertise by presenting relevant stats and credible sources, along with any sort of authoritative content in your niche.
3. Acquiring authoritative backlinks

• Offer a Positive User Experience:

The sole purpose of all these updates carried out on Google’s algorithms is to improve the user experience. Google wants users to find what they are looking for quickly and conveniently while enjoying their surfing journey.

To remain on Google’s good books, you need to alter your SEO strategies accordingly and ensure that your content contributes to the overall goals of Google.

Apart from content quality, you need to work on your website’s structure. Your users should be able to navigate your pages seamlessly and get what they are finding without any inconvenience.

You should also avoid heavy visuals. Although multimedia elements improve the visual appeal, they can significantly slow down the loading time of your website, which can be tackled by compressing these images and videos. Thus, you will be able to lower the bounce rates on your website.

To Summarize

With each update, Google aims to improve its focus towards enhancing user experience and offering valuable content. These updates may have some impact on your rankings and your SEO campaigns, depending on the quality of content you produce.

However, if you implement the abovementioned tactics, you will be able to avoid suffering from any significant impact on your SEO campaign, which will further improve your overall rankings and visibility on SERP results.