Google’s algorithms have evolved significantly over the years, reshaping the SEO landscape. Understanding these changes can help you adapt and stay competitive.
Initially, Google relied heavily on PageRank, which prioritized backlinks as a measure of authority. While still important, this approach evolved to include content relevance with updates like Panda (2011), which penalized thin or duplicate content.
The Hummingbird update (2013) introduced semantic search, focusing on user intent rather than exact keyword matches. This marked a shift toward conversational queries and natural language processing.
Mobile-first indexing became a priority with the Mobilegeddon update (2015), emphasizing the importance of responsive design and fast mobile experiences.
Today, RankBrain and BERT use AI and machine learning to better understand context and user intent, pushing SEO strategies to focus on high-quality, user-centric content.