Date: 09/01/2025

Author: Ryan Walsh

Google algorithm

SEO, that is, Search Engine Optimisation, has changed massively over the last decade or so. Since the early days of Google’s page rank, Google’s algorithm has become increasingly and incrementally more complex.

Now, it’s something of a masterpiece, a complex mathematical formula that also incorporates artificial intelligence.

We Describe Google’s algorithm as a “masterpiece” because that’s precisely what it is. It’s been perfected and fine-tuned to reward businesses that put hard work into publishing high-quality content marketing (High Google E-EAT score).

This didn’t used to be the case.
Substandard, low-quality, and, frankly, lazy SEO agencies often tried to game the system and manipulate Google’s rankings, and sometimes, they were successful.

However, due to receiving numerous updates, such as the “Google Panda” update and the “Google Penguin Updates”, these agencies often go out of business quickly for completing, well, frankly, rubbish marketing work.

That’s because their client may have woken up one morning to see their rankings within Google Search Console and Google Analytics well obliterated, sometimes even a message within Google Search Console saying that the business has received a manual action penalty! Yikes!

This can present a massive problem to any business because it means that Google has removed it from the ranks.

 

Table of contents:

2011 – Google Panda update
2012 – Google Venice update
2012 – Google Penguin
2013 – Google Hummingbird
2014 – HTTPS/SSL
2015 – Mobile Update
2015 – Google RankBrain
2018 – (Mobile) Speed Update
2019 – BERT update
2021 – Google Page Experience Update
2022 – Google Helpful Content Update

 

Many businesses try to have a stab at doing SEO themselves.

However, it is a highly complex and ever-changing field, and you need to keep your knowledge up-to-date—your finger on the pulse, so to speak!

Somebody with little search engine optimisation or surface-level expertise will often get things wrong.

They fall into common pitfalls, such as using “cloaking”, “keyword stuffing”, and buying spam links! Don’t buy links; it can have a massive negative effect on the business’s marketing! Negatively, that is.

Therefore, we strongly encourage you to put the kettle on and read a series of blog posts by leading and respected authors, such as those who publish work on Moz.

That’s before you start any search engine optimisation work. Perhaps you’d also like to read more articles on Walsh & Partners. That’s because we are widely regarded as one of the best SEO agencies in Cardiff.

Before we go any further, we would like to highlight the various Google algorithm updates in this article and discuss why they are important and why you should understand how they work.

 

2011 – Google Panda

It is used when content marketing is seen as like producing widgets on a giant production line. Well, that’s at least how some digital marketing agencies see writing content.

What this means is that many marketing businesses simply made the mistake of thinking that quantity should come second to quality!

However, quality must always come first, never sacrifice, and never substitute for quantity.

This is because low-quality content, such as thin content marketing, can adversely affect businesses’ search engine optimisation.

Letters explain why that is so; when somebody is looking for an answer to a question, they often want a comprehensive answer that satisfies the user’s question. They go away from the page, feeling that they have found the answer to what they were looking for.

However, businesses often published content-thin marketing before Google’s Panda update was rolled out.

This means that sometimes, when writing an absolute waffle that is useless to anybody, the only purpose is to try to place keywords in strategic places, such as page titles! This work was hit by a massive wave of Google penalties, which Google dished out.

This content-thin content marketing, which we often describe as “space junk,” is just that junk because it clutters up everything that gets in the way and is useless to nobody.

Instead, you want the Northern Star, and what we mean by that is content marketing that shines so bright and brilliant that you become good at offering information in your specific business sector and are seen as the experts at what you do.

Don’t think that you’re insinuating this is easier to achieve. It’s not. It means your copywriters and content marketing team need tremendous work and effort.

2012 – Google Venice Update

The Google Venice update was significant, as it personalised Google’s results for people based on their location.
Therefore, the SERPs, the search engine results pages, become somewhat bespoke depending on where the person was at that time.

 

2012 Google Penguin Update

 

In 2012, the first Google Penguin update was rolled out.

This is a significant milestone, changing how many businesses implemented building links.
In short, if you’re buying links—that is, low-quality links from low-quality websites, such as spam websites—then this is a first-class ticket to obtaining a Google penalty.

Don’t take a Google penalty lightly!

It can massively damage your business SEO!
Let’s recap what we mean by that: many businesses will buy thousands of links at a time, often from websites created and built to send out links.

This is known as manipulative or spam link building because the business might create a website that reviews various electrical goods, like smartphones.

It then offers links to other businesses, such as websites that might be smaller-scale retailers within the city.
They might purchase these links or pay for, say, 1000 inbound links. This is a surefire way for the business to receive a hefty fat Google penalty. (Google Penguin Penalty).

In short, spam links will massively damage your business’s SEO.

 

2013 – Google Hummingbird

 

This was a complicated update rolled out by Google. It isn’t easy to explain, but it relates to semantic SEO and Google’s ability to understand more complex search strings.

We mean shoppers are now asking more complicated questions and talking to Google like talking to an actual human.
For example, if somebody wants to buy a hiking backpack, they might ask Google, via Google Voice Search, “What is the best hiking backpack on sale that’s completely waterproof?”

This is a much more complicated query (search string), so it requires Google to adapt, and it has adapted very well to the Google Hummingbird update.

It was much better enabled and equipped to understand more complicated search strings that people ask Google.
SEO consultants/agencies globally refer to these as “longtail keywords”, which are more conversational queries.

In essence, there are more complicated search strings, where the algorithm, that is, Google’s algorithm, must be better equipped to understand these more complex queries.

Therefore, it’s widely thought that Google’s algorithm doesn’t just rely on looking at a few keywords to understand a query; it is equipped to understand a query as a whole.

Therefore, as in the previous example, Google would understand that the person doesn’t just want to buy a backpack; they have emphasised the need for it to be “completely waterproof” in their query to Google.

Therefore, the results will be changed to reflect this and offer waterproof backpacks.

 

2014 – Google Pigeon Update

 

This was a critical update. Is your business more focused on local SEO?

That’s because the person’s location dictates the business results.

For example, if it were still closer to Cardiff Castle and you asked Google to look for a local Italian restaurant, the results would be altered based on which restaurants are closest to you.

If they wander down to Cardiff Bay and ask the same question via Google voice search, Google Maps, Google organic results, and even Google

AdWords might offer a completely different set of results.

2014 – HTTPS/SSL

Businesses that incorporate HTTPS/SSL encryption into their websites show that they care about improving the security and privacy of their customer’s financial data, such as when they purchase items on your site.

Therefore, many global SEO agencies think incorporating HTTPS/SSL certificates on these businesses’ websites gives them slightly higher rankings.

 

2015 – Google Mobile Update

 

The Google Mobile update was significant because, at this time, the number of people making searches and asking questions on smartphones and tablets surpassed desktop computers.

This meant that Google needed to create an update that improved the ranking of businesses who invested in having well-designed mobile versions of their websites, which offer a good user experience U.X)

Around this time, Google also incorporated mobile-first indexing, which meant it would first index the mobile version of the website before the desktop version.

Therefore, around this time, there was a mad scramble for many businesses to improve their mobile website design and simply adopt responsive website design.

 

2015 – Google RankBrain update first introduction of AI into Google’s core algorithm

 

This is a massive update that Google has called out. It’s somewhat complex, and many agencies find it challenging to understand precisely how this update impacts search results.

However, it is widely thought that Google has an excellent understanding of presenting answers to customers even when they are unsure of the final answer they want.

Let’s elaborate on what we mean by that; somebody might be looking at what firewood to burn in their home in the United Kingdom.
Incorporated into the question might be which firewood needs less seasoning.

Then, because Google RankBrain has seen a pattern where millions of people within the United Kingdom prefer purchasing, let’s say, ash firewood in particular, the straightaway in the first question, ash firewood is presented as a suggested firewood that they should buy in the Google SERP’s.

 

2016 – Google Bert Update

The Google Bert update is highly complex, incorporating technologies such as(Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers). Businesses must understand that Google is now much better at understanding more complex conversational searches.
Again, as more people ask more complicated questions, as more complex search strings, and as more shoppers talk to Google like an actual human, Google is better equipped to understand much more complex questions.

 

2021 – Google Page Experience Update

This was a significant update rolled out by Alphabet. It focused primarily on page speed; we did not want to get too technical, but it was about its stability and speed.

This is why if your company website is not fast in Cardiff, in terms of being slow to load on smartphones, well, this should be a matter of priority!

For example, have you ever been, let’s say, sitting on a train, about to travel from work, and discovered the website is slow? The pages are unstable, and elements are jumbled up on the page, but some are not, and you can’t get to the product you want because the page is so slow.

This can ramp up the business bounce rate, so the SEO agency may see a bounce rate of over 90% the next time it logs into your Google Analytics!

Therefore, this update was centred around how fast the website became stable and how quick the page was.
Google, that’s Alphabet, was rewarded because it had fast websites, which are road-runner fast company websites.

 

Google Helpful Content Update

Have you ever visited the website, and it’s clear that they’ve pushed the boat out by offering comprehensive, interesting answers?
You may spend a long time on that website because the pages are visually appealing and often offer quality information.

These pages are rewarded with higher rankings by Google because of the helpful content update; that’s the Google helpful content update of 2022, which was rolled out and rewarded businesses with higher rankings that offered quality content.

 

 

Come to the best and forget the rest.

There’s a reason our SEO agency has lasted over 10 years and continues to grow as a Welsh marketing agency.

That’s because we are the masters at what we do; we have spent hundreds of hours, if not thousands, refining our craft.

Therefore, we can improve your business’s technical, on-page and off-page SEO.

We don’t compete with other companies on price; instead, we compete on quality; that’s why we offer a minimum price package of £500, which is often higher than some other companies. We don’t offer low-cost packages because we focus on delivering quality clients.

If you’d like to partner with us, an established and respected Welsh SEO agency based in the heart of Cardiff, contact us today.