How Does Google's Algorithm Work?


The article discusses in detail how Google's search algorithm work. What quality metrics it considers in ranking your website and which factors you should focus on to get a good Google search ranking.

Googles algorithm can appear to be difficult to understand when you first start learning about it when in reality, it is actually a lot easier then you may think. Whether you choose to use one of the SEO companies Essex has to offer, or you choose to monitor it yourself, there is plenty for you to consider.
We are going to take a more in-depth look into how Google's algorithm works and how it can help your business.

Metrics


When a term or phrase is typed into Google to be searched, the algorithm then splits this search into metrics. These metrics simply look for different elements of the search, such as keywords, around the internet in order to provide results. One way in which it does this is by scanning the URL of every website for a variation of the keyword you have searched. This helps to ensure that the sights you will receive are relevant as a result. Once this has been completed, the algorithm will go through and check other elements, such as links, to see if the content is reliable and if it provides you with the information that you need.

Keywords


Although this is only some of what Google's algorithm searches for, there has been a lot of change surrounding content and more specifically keywords, within the recent updates. The algorithm in current years has begun to search for variations of a keyword, rather than an exact match, in order to offer a better user experience. In doing this, it expands the number of results that are shown from multiple different sources, which gives a more broad range of answers.

Usability


When the algorithm looks at a website, it looks at the content and decides whether it is good, not only for the search bots but also for the target audience. If the content is scrolled by a bot and looks spammy, this can then be penalised. Therefore, it is important that the content that is being put up online is as relevant as possible, without having a profound effect on the optimisation.

Relevancy


Google's algorithm will also check to see if the content is relevant or not. As a result, it is vital that you keep the content as relevant as possible, in order to help the algorithm favour the content. To do this, you must consider backlinks in addition to the implementation of your keywords. If the keyword is in the title, as well as the URL and throughout the content, this will help Google to be sure that the content is relevant to what the user is looking for, which will help to boost the relevancy of the content being posted.

Trust


The better the user experience of the website, the more trustworthy the site looks. If the site has a high bounce rate and has poor user interaction, then this can lead to Google thinking that your site is untrustworthy. In addition to this, it is important to ensure that the backlinks that you have on your site are relevant. This is so that your site appears more trustworthy, which will help to boost overall ranking.

Spiders


In order to search the web as quickly as it does, Googles algorithm has specially programmed spiders to target elements within the content. This will then pull it up as a result. In order for the content to be pulled up, it has to have keywords that are targeted to the search or are a variation of keywords as this can also provide relevant information to the user that will be useful.

Updates


Although updates are frequent, there are predominantly only small changes that are made at a time. Changes are released sporadically throughout the year, though the bigger updates in recent years such as penguin and Panda have been obvious, and have focused heavily on content and targeting spammy links. These were put in place to help improve the search results for users and help to ensure that they have the best possible experience when using the search engine.

How Can This Affect Your Site?


Not only do updates affect the way that Google searches for results, but they it can also have a profound effect on the way that your site ranks. A prime example of this is if Google changes the algorithm to search for a more conversational tone, but your keywords are targeted in a formal way. In this case, you may not rank as highly as necessary. Additionally, some of the other major updates in recent years are the change in the meta description length and snippet length - these will help your website to rank when people use advanced search features such as voice search.

As it currently stands, Google and its algorithm is still undecided when it comes to the preferred length of a meta description and has chosen instead to opt for a mixed-method that range between 160- 360 characters. Although this has not yet been decided by the powers that be at Google, it is still worth sticking to the shorter character length for the time being as this seems likely to be the choice that they will opt with.

RankBrain is used by Google to track all the different elements of the content online to give the best possible results to users, therefore it is important to ensure that you are ahead of the game in optimising your content and ensure that your ranking is not affected with every algorithm update. If this isn't done, it can mean months of work to regain your position. If you begin to track some of the trends, you can lessen the effect of each update and ensure that your website is as stable as possible and does not lose its position from page one.

Remember, that it is important for your business to be on top of all algorithm updates. Make sure that the content is adapted in order to accommodate the requirements, as this will help your site to keep ranking successfully.


Comments

Author: Umesh09 Sep 2018 Member Level: Gold   Points : 2

A very detailed and exhaustive article on Google search.

In my opinion it may be a better approach to use minimum words in our search string which are relevant to the content we are searching.

This may result in better and focussed search as multiple sites with more and less similar content will be minimized.



  • Do not include your name, "with regards" etc in the comment. Write detailed comment, relevant to the topic.
  • No HTML formatting and links to other web sites are allowed.
  • This is a strictly moderated site. Absolutely no spam allowed.
  • Name:
    Email: