Search Algorithms
Search engines have complex search algorithms which are used to ensure they are able to display the most relevant and useful results to their users. While algorithm changes are common and won’t usually affect a site’s ranking, search engines such as Google will occasionally introduce a major update which may impact search results. Our Hangout Notes cover insights from Google around these algorithms with best practice advice.
Visitors From The Discover Feed Are Expected to be Attributed as Organic Search Traffic
While not currently unified, John believes that in the long run visitors arriving to a site from the discover feed will be attributed as visitors from organic search results. This is due to the discover feed being identified as another search service.
Automated Image Recognition is Expected to be Used For Reviewing Favicons
When reviewing if favicons are following guidelines, John expects algorithmic automated image recognition will be used to identify if a favicon is not following the guidelines and will then filter it out. Once it sees the favicon has been changed and is following the guidelines it should then be picked up again.
No Search Result Fluctuations Expected After The Launch of New Googlebot
While there may be some movement, websites that are currently in Google’s index shouldn’t see any noticable fluctuations in search results after the update to Google’s rendering engine this month.
Keywords in URLs are a Very Small Ranking Signal
The words featured in a URL are such a small ranking signal that John wouldn’t recommend reshaping a website to accommodate more descriptive URLs as it is unlikely this would significantly improve performance in search.
Google Doesn’t Place Fixed Weight on Backlinks in its Algorithms
Google doesn’t place a fixed weight on backlinks in its algorithms, it varies from case to case. For example, a new article may rank well for a trending topic but have few links because it is so fresh.
Don’t Focus on tf-idf to Optimize Pages as Search Algorithms Are Much More Complex Now
John recommends not focusing on tf-idf because it is a very old metric and algorithms have evolved a lot since then. Using tf-idf to squeeze words into your pages is unlikely to be useful and is a short-sighted approach.
Google Does Not Use Domain Authority in its Search Algorithms
Google does not use Domain Authority to rank pages in its search results, as it is a third-party metric.
Displaying Expertise on a Topic Plays a Role in Rankings
There is no quick fix for improving a site or author’s expertise on a subject, however, this is a factor that feeds into rankings. It takes time to build a presence as an authority on a topic.
AdSense Uses Different Systems Than Organic Search Algorithms
Google AdSense and organic search have different policies when classifying websites. If a site is flagged for some reason by AdSense, this doesn’t mean it will automatically be prevented from being shown organically in the SERPs.
Algorithms Are Updated Based on Query Types Rather Than Industry Types
Algorithms aren’t updated for particular industries, but are instead updated based on particular types of queries.