Google made several big changes to its search engine algorithm this year. Here’s a breakdown of all the major updates that took place in 2015.
If you’re like most business owners, you’re always trying to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to Google’s ever-changing search engine algorithms. That’s because these updates can have a huge impact on your website’s ranking and visibility.
This year, there were several significant changes made to Google’s algorithm. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at each one and see how it might impact your website.
Introduction
So, you want to know all the major Google algorithm updates of 2015, eh? Well, you’re in luck, because we’ve got a comprehensive list right here.
In January, Google released the Mobile-Friendly Update, which gave a ranking boost to mobile-friendly pages in search results. In March, they released the Quality Update, which targeted sites with low-quality content. In May, they rolled out the Penguin 4.0 update, which was designed to devalue spammy links.
In July, they released the Panda 4.2 update, which was designed to give more weight to high-quality content. In October, they released the Possum update, which aimed to reduce spammy results from localized searches. And in December, they released the Phantom 3 update, which was designed to further improve the quality of search results.
Phew! That was a lot of updates! But as you can see, Google is constantly working hard to improve the quality of their search results. So if you’re looking to stay ahead of the curve, make sure you keep up with the latest algorithm changes.
Panda 4.1
Panda 4.1 was one of the biggest updates of 2015.
It hit on September 23 and was aimed at rewarding high-quality websites while penalizing those that were spammy or low-quality. This algorithm update was designed to improve the user experience by giving them more relevant search results.
Panda 4.1 was different from other Panda updates because it didn’t just target English results. It was also released in specific countries, including India, Mexico, and Japan.
Phantom 2
You may have heard about Google’s Phantom 2 update, which rolled out in May of 2015.
This update was designed to target sites that were using black-hat SEO tactics to manipulate their search engine rankings. Basically, Google was cracking down on sites that were trying to game the system.
And it worked—the Phantom 2 update resulted in a massive drop in web traffic for a lot of sites. So if you saw a sudden drop in your website’s traffic around that time, there’s a good chance you were caught up in the Phantom 2 update.
RankBrain
So what’s RankBrain? It’s a machine learning algorithm that Google started using in 2015 to help it process search results. And what this means is that RankBrain is able to understand the meaning behind queries, not just the individual words.
This was a huge change for Google, and it’s something that’s been really helping them to improve the quality of their search results. In fact, Google has said that RankBrain is now one of the three most important factors when it comes to determining how a page ranks.
Mobilegeddon
Do you remember Mobilegeddon? It was a huge update to Google’s algorithm that was designed to favor mobile-friendly websites. If your website wasn’t mobile-friendly, you were basically out of luck.
Google had been giving warnings for months leading up to the update, and many people thought it was just a hoax. But when April 21 rolled around, it became clear that Google was serious about this update. Websites that weren’t mobile-friendly saw a significant decrease in their search engine rankings.
This update was huge, and it had a major impact on the way websites are designed. If you’re not sure whether your website is mobile-friendly, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to find out.
Brand/eCommerce Update
Google released a number of updates in 2015 that impacted brands and eCommerce sites.
The first update, called the “Panda 4.2” update, was released in July and was designed to give brands more leeway when it came to keyword density and other on-page optimization techniques.
Then, in September, Google released the “Mobilegeddon” update, which was designed to give preference to mobile-friendly websites in the search results.
In October, Google made an important change to the way it measures website speed, which could have a significant impact on eCommerce sites. And finally, in December, Google released the “Quality Update”, which wasn’t really an update at all but rather an intensification of the existing Quality Guidelines.
Newswave Update
So, what was the most recent Google algorithm update?
Dubbed the “Newswave” update, this one was all about providing users with better, more accurate search results. Basically, Google wants to make sure that the information you’re getting is timely and relevant.
To do this, they tweaked their algorithm to give more weight to recent news stories. This is good news for publishers who have been seeing their traffic decline in recent years. And it’s also good news for users, who now have access to up-to-date information without having to wade through a bunch of irrelevant search results.
Conclusion
If you’re keeping up with the latest SEO news, then you know that Google has made a lot of algorithm updates this year. These updates have had a major impact on the way that businesses do SEO, and many are still feeling the effects.
Here’s a quick rundown of all the major algorithm updates that have happened in 2015:
January: Google announced that it would be rolling out a mobile-friendly update in April, which would rank sites higher in the search results if they were optimized for mobile.
February: Google announced an update to its Penguin algorithm, which would devalue sites that were using spammy link-building tactics.
April: The mobile-friendly update was released, as well as an update to the Panda algorithm that affected sites with thin content.
May: Google released an updated version of its Webmaster Guidelines, which included new recommendations for mobile-friendly design and content.
July: Another Penguin update was released, which devalued even more sites that were using spammy link-building tactics.
August: Google announced an algorithm update that would be focused on punishing sites that were engaging in aggressive advertising practices.
September: An update to the Panda algorithm was released, affecting sites with thin or poor-quality content.
These are just some of the major algorithm updates that have happened this year. As you can see, Google is really cracking down on low-quality content and spammy link-building tactics. If your site has been affected by any of these updates, it’s important to take action to fix the problems so that you can regain your ranking in the search results.
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