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Latest Google Algorithm Updates You Need to Know for 2022

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February 8, 2022
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9 min read

Google has always focused on improving its search ranking algorithm so that it puts users first. The algorithm is updated hundreds of times annually just to ensure that it’s in accordance with the latest search trends. 

According to the search engine, the number of irrelevant and incorrect results showing up on the first page of the search results has decreased by 40% in the last five years. Many of these changes hardly get noticed. But, there are quite a few that have a tremendous impact on the world of SEO.

Each webmaster has to consider the latest changes in the Google algorithm and update their website according to these changes to rank high in the search engine. In this post, we will walk you through a few such Google algorithm updates you should know for 2022. Let’s get started.

The Page Experience Update

The Page Experience update was completed in September 2021. Google has been prioritizing the quality of web pages, as users tend to spend most of the time navigating websites. This update includes all the components that may affect your website ranking and your audiences’ experience, such as load times and stable pages.

The goal is to improve the experience of users on your website. The important elements of the Page Experience Update are:

  • Core web vitals
  • Mobile usability
  • HTTP usage
  • Ad experience
  • Security issues

The page experience doesn’t include the information value on the web page. Put it this way, your website content is one thing and its design is another. How your audience interacts with your web page can play a pivotal role in ranking your website. 

Google’s Link Spam Update

In July 2021, Google had warned marketers that the Link Spam Update will have a significant impact on their search rankings. The company expected the feature to be completed within 2 weeks, but it took longer. The Link Spam update was completed in August 2021 and Google made it official by posting the news on Twitter. Initially, the team updated a small message saying that website owners who used sponsored links, guest posts, and other commercial links on their websites must qualify these links. That’s especially required for those monetizing their websites and blogs.

Google mentions that in its continuous effort in improving the quality of the links and giving users the best browsing experience, it has launched the link spam update. This new change in its ranking algorithm will do a lot more than identify spam links. The goal is to make search engines as user-friendly as possible by identifying the quality of both inbound and outbound links. Websites that focus on improving their overall user experience by posting high-quality content and using relevant links are more likely to rank higher in the search engines than those that post random links.

These updates will be welcomed by people who check the quality of the links and run an in-depth search on the URLs before using them. Even though Google was pretty strict about spammy links, there were still websites with spammy links that ranked high in the search engines, which is why this change was much needed.

Summer Broad Core Update

The Summer Broad Core Update was meant to be completed in June, but due to the lack of time, Google postponed its release. It did release the features it had completed by June 2021 and left the remaining for the next month. It released another update in July 2021, launching the rest of the features. 

Google never reveals what exactly goes into the ranking factors and how the new algorithm updates affect your search engine ranking. But, as per its statement, it is clear that Google has been focusing more on fighting spam with the help of new anti-spam software. It clarifies that this core update will introduce a new set of spam-fighting features that will allow Google to execute the task in a more efficient and better way.

Read More: Latest Google algorithm update brings UX is the new ranking factor

April Product Reviews Update

Another great algorithm update that was rolled out in April 2021 was the Product Reviews update. As the name suggests, this was for the product reviews page and authentic websites that focused on creating high-quality, in-depth product review pages. Google declared that the websites and review pages that post high-quality content will be rewarded with a high Google search engine ranking. The feature was released on 8th April. 

Google said that it targeted all those thin pages that posted the summaries of a bunch of products. The goal is to promote high-quality content and help users find products and services that are most relevant to their search queries. The first rollout of this update focused on the product reviews posted in English only. Google mentioned that the April Product Review Update was completely different from their core updates, but it was quite important for all websites relying on their content for search engine ranking.

Here are the key components of this update that every website posting product reviews must focus on. 

  • Provide expert knowledge 
  • Give a detailed explanation of how the product works, who it is designed for, and how it can help people in a detailed form. This information should go beyond what’s already provided by the manufacturer.
  • How does a product differentiate from its competitors or what is it about the product that sets it apart from other similar products in the market?
  • List the alternative products and mention which products can make the best fit for certain instances
  • Talk about the pros and cons of each product, what are its features, and how can it benefit the user
  • Mention how the particular product has improved in terms of quality. How can it address issues people have been experiencing and how does it affect their purchase decision?

Websites that focus on improving the quality of the product reviews and making them better and more effective will be rewarded with a high search ranking. Besides, there is a good chance your search visibility will improve significantly.

The Introduction of MUM

The most impactful algorithm change we have seen in 2021 is the introduction of MUM. It stands for Multitask Unified Model, a concept that involves the use of Artificial Intelligence to enable people to execute complex tasks as efficiently as possible. MUM was considered thousand times more powerful than BERT. That’s because of the tool’s ability to read information from text and images. Google has announced recently that it plans on enhancing the ability of this AI-powered tool such that it supports audio and video formats as well. 

You must already have the example of MUM when typing the vaccine-related quotes in the Google search bar. The tool, undoubtedly, has the capability to process all types of queries for vaccines. It also shows you new ways to discover different topics. The main purpose behind the MUM is to make the Google algorithm as robust as possible. Now, these algorithms can identify the quality of content and its relevance in a better and more efficient way. You don’t have to optimize your website for the Multitask Unified Model. It’s more of a technology that every website owner should know and understand in order to create content that matches the algorithm’s standard.

Google has not mentioned any details about this technology, but from what we have seen, it’s BIG. Multitask Unified Model is a group of technologies that are used together to find solutions to difficult and tricky queries that can’t be answered with those ten links. It’s either the ten blue links that show up on the search result page or a snippet. While this information could be enough to answer short and casual queries, the long and difficult ones need a more robust system. That’s what Google is trying to fix with MUM. Basically, Google is expected to provide answers to these difficult queries using a combination of texts and images. The tool knows over 75 languages already and is expected to grow more in the future. The ultimate objective is to make search queries easy and effective for the audience.

Other Google Updates We Are Expecting This Year

As mentioned above, Google has introduced several upgrades in the past few years. These upgrades in its ranking algorithm have reshaped the SEO world. While these were the five more popular updates that will affect your website ranking in 2022 and the coming years, there are many more.

For example, Google might use passages from your web pages as a ranking factor. They have also changed the requirements for schema markup. This change was introduced in order to simplify the schema markup and make language easy and comprehensible. 

Bottom Line

These were the top latest Google algorithm updates every website owner should know. Optimize your website around these upgrades to secure a good spot in the search engine. The only way to improve your website visibility is by keeping up-to-date with Google’s changing algorithms and implementing those changes to your website.

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