Google, review and outlook

The year 2021 was turbulent in many ways. SEO managers had to get to know the algorithm again due to various Google updates. In this article we take a look back at 2021 and the algorithm changes as well as at 2022 and the changes that can be expected.

December 2020: Core update

Google’s series of notable updates regarding the algorithm will begin as early as December 2020. This update impacted all changes in 2021, so this one deserves a mention as well. The core update should improve the assessment of the EAT factors. EAT stands for Expertise, Authority and Trust. These are particularly important for financial and health issues. Google is trying to fight fake news sites by strengthening the EAT factors.

June 2-12, 2021: Core Update Part I

After half a year, Google released the next core update, which was divided into two parts for the first time. The update was installed from June 2nd to 12th. However, it has been heavily criticized as some trustworthy websites have suffered heavy losses. Webmasters saw the problem in the split of the update and assumed that the losses would be eliminated in the second part of the update.

June 15, 2021: Page Experience Update

After a long wait, the Page Experience update has been installed. With the update, Core Web Vitals were officially introduced by Google as a ranking factor. The extent of the layout shift and the duration of the loading time are taken into account by the Core Web Vitals. Thus, fast and user-friendly websites are rewarded with an advantage in the ranking.

June 23 & 28: Spam updates

The spam updates were installed on June 23rd and 28th. The impact of these updates seemed small. Still, it must be noted that the impact could not be seen precisely as the updates fell within the Page Experience Update.

July 1 – 12, 2021: Core Update Part II

At the beginning of July 2021, the second part of the “Summer Core Update” was imported. Right from the start, well-known and trustworthy websites had to lose their good positioning. Real estate, science, shopping, beauty and pets were hardest hit. This change also indicates Google’s increased focus on EAT factors.

July 26, 2021: Link spam update

With the Link Spam Update implemented on July 26, Google attempted to change the algorithm so that unnatural backlinks could be better detected. Websites with an unnatural backlink profile are also said to be weakened.

August 2021: title update

The Google Title Update in August 2021 also caused a stir. With the update, the algorithm was adjusted so that it selects the title link of the SERPs itself. Because at this point in time only about 80% of the metalinks were taken over by Google, the remaining title links were generated from other sources on the website. Since the criticism of this procedure continued to increase, Google adjusted this several times.

November 17, 2021: Core update

Google installed the last global core update for 2021 on November 17th. An initial analysis shows that the areas of finance and medicine are again particularly affected. Reasons for this can be, on the one hand, the change in the importance of the EAT factors by Google and, on the other hand, a slight change in the assessment of the factors.

Outlook: possible algorithm changes in 2022

The future can rarely be predicted, but the 2021 updates can be used to create a clear recommendation for action for the future. The 2021 updates all aimed to remove fraudulent and fake news sites from the index. The 2022 updates will also pursue this goal.

Reputable websites will be rewarded with a better ranking in the updates. Future Google updates will also deal with the EAT factors.

In addition to the goal of removing dubious websites from the index, the importance of accessibility on the Internet will increase. In the future, the Core Web Vitals should also include how smart and problem-free the website runs after loading. Factors such as security and data protection should also be taken into account.

Improve EAT factors of your website

Google doesn’t keep their cards on their toes, so there are no clear actions to take to improve your site’s expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Nevertheless, there are indications on which I base the following measures.

• Old domains tend to have an advantage over new domains.
• The naming of authors brings advantages in relation to the trustworthiness of your website.
• The expertise increases through texts by well-known authors.
• The trustworthiness of the website increases through the use of high-quality trust links and backlinks to reputable websites.
• The contact option increases trust in your website.

Sarja Reinecke