Google algorithm archives

Recent Google algorithm articles

SEO news in May 2021: Google introduces a new language model

This month, Google held their annual I/O conference, an event at which they announce new product releases and other interesting stuff. They introduced us to MUM, their new language model and the next step in understanding online content. But meeting (their) MUM wasn’t all. There was lots of SEO news in May 2021 and our …

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SEO news in May 2021: Google introduces a new language model


What can Google’s “product reviews update” teach us about “high-quality content”?

27 April 2021 | 4 Comments Jono Alderson

In April 2021, Google changed how they assess content which ‘reviews’ products and services. The “Product reviews update” made it harder for pages that do little more than “summarize a bunch of products” to rank highly. But, unlike many other Google updates, this one came with a cheat sheet that describes what site editors need …

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What can Google’s “product reviews update” teach us about “high-quality content”?

Google’s algorithm is smart and dumb at the same time

30 March 2021 | 8 Comments Marieke van de Rakt

Google is smart, amazingly smart. The algorithm is very close to reading texts like human beings. At the same time, parts of Google’s algorithm aren’t smart at all. Computers aren’t good at understanding ‘what is what’ on a page. If you have a recipe site, you’ll need to tell Google what an ingredient is, what …

Read: "Google’s algorithm is smart and dumb at the same time"
Google’s algorithm is smart and dumb at the same time


Learn about the three Core Web Vitals: LCP, FID & CLS

15 March 2021 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

Some time ago, Google caused quite a stir by announcing a new ranking factor for 2021: page experience. User experience has always been an essential part of building the best site out there, but now, it will play an even bigger role in helping you build awesome sites for your customers. All this is powered …

Read: "Learn about the three Core Web Vitals: LCP, FID & CLS"
Learn about the three Core Web Vitals: LCP, FID & CLS

The latest news in SEO and WordPress: January 2021

Google’s new subtopics ranking, a page builder that’s also focusing on performance and a tool to easily rewrite and repost old content. These are a few of the news items that our SEO experts Joost de Valk and Jono Alderson discussed during our SEO news webinar on the 26th of January 2021. Missed it? No …

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The latest news in SEO and WordPress: January 2021

The latest news in SEO and WordPress: December 2020

17 December 2020 | 8 Comments Camille Cunningham

It’s December, the last month of the year and that means that we’ve also had our last webinar of 2020. In this month’s edition, our SEO experts Joost de Valk and Jono Alderson discuss the latest in Google, Facebook, WordPress and other SEO news. To give some spoilers, you can expect to hear more about …

Read: "The latest news in SEO and WordPress: December 2020"
The latest news in SEO and WordPress: December 2020

The latest news in SEO and WordPress: November 2020

25 November 2020 | 2 Comments Edwin Toonen

Another great edition of our monthly SEO news webinar has come and gone. In the November 2020 edition, we opened up broadcasting for everyone — not just members of the Yoast SEO academy. Joost de Valk and Jono Alderson once again discussed a lot of news regarding SEO, Google, WordPress and Yoast itself. In this …

Read: "The latest news in SEO and WordPress: November 2020"
The latest news in SEO and WordPress: November 2020

Using Google’s search results to create great content

26 October 2020 Willemien Hallebeek

To get your page to the top of the search results, you need to create content that people are actually looking for. That’s why you need to consider search intent before you start writing. Google is getting better and better at guessing what people want or need when they type in their – sometimes cryptic …

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Using Google’s search results to create great content