How to Adjust to Google's Algorithm Changes?

What to do with the everchanging Google algorithm?

Google openly discusses that they make changes to their ranking algorithm multiple times throughout the year. These changes might cause dramatic changes in how sites are ranked for important queries and thus the traffic volume and recognition that brands receive. They might also influence how results get displayed on the SERP.

With all of these changes, it can be tempting to try and determine how to adjust SEO strategies and marketing best practices to align with the latest Google changes. This, however, provides organizations with a very short-sighted strategy and fails to take into account the dangers of this theory. Here is what people should know about how to adjust to Google’s algorithm changes.

• Remember Google will always change
• Focus on the same goals as Google
• Stay abreast of the latest changes

1. Remember Google will always change. All marketers should by now realize that Google will always change. It will never be a static algorithm that allows brands to analyze it and ‘master’ it. Since technology and customer expectations changes, brands need to be prepared for regular changes from Google.

Therefore, trying to always adjust your internal strategy to align with the latest changes from Google becomes very challenging. The algorithm updates come so frequently that you would need to revamp your marketing practices every few months. The lack of consistent, coherent strategies will also make it easy for gaps in your strategy to emerge.

2. Focus on the same goals as Google. Rather than trying to analyze and guess Google’s strategy, brands should focus on understanding the same goals as the search engine.

Google wants to create a user experience that helps people find the information they need quickly and easily. For the search engine, the priority lies in giving people an outstanding experience so that they continue to return to Google to make searches in the future.

To this end, the search engine continues to look for ways to better understand what customers want to see and understand their intent when making a search. They also continually look for changes in consumer behavior online to better understand how users might make those important searches. The algorithm then adjusts as they work to better understand these behaviors and changes.

Rather than try to stay on top of the changes Google makes, you should instead focus on aligning your site goals with the same goals as Google. Create a site and optimize the content you produce with the intention of producing the optimal customer experience.

Your SEO efforts should work to make your content and depth readily apparent to the search engine spiders. You want to clearly demonstrate your expertise so that both the users and the search engines have reason to trust what you have to say.

3. Stay abreast of the latest changes in technology and customer expectations. Google’s updates often occur in response to consumer expectations and technology. Therefore, make sure that you and your site are ready for these developments as well. Keep yourself up to date on the latest changes in the industry, including trends in user behavior and what the technology is capable of. This will help you ensure that your site is ready for what customers want to see and how the algorithm might adjust in the near future.

The Google algorithm regularly changes, which means that it is not an efficient use of resources to try and continually adjust strategies based on how the algorithm recently evolved. Instead, keep the site and your strategy aligned with the user experience and producing content that clearly demonstrates you are the best source of information and help when it comes to solving a pain point.