Google’s Biggest Search Algorithm Updates of 2016 [Gifographic]

All digital marketers and SEO professionals look forward to the yearly changes Google makes to its search algorithm.

While Google announces some upgrades from the rooftops, others are low-key affairs that don’t garner much attention. Yet whether large or small, Google’s changes don’t impact marketers as drastically as they have in the past.

Major Google Search Engine Algorithm Updates 2016

Among the major updates Google rolled out in 2016 were Panda, Penguin and Possum. Needless to say, Google implements all of its modifications with the aim of making it easy for users to find the information they’re looking for in minimal time. Google also has aimed to integrate paid and organic search results with both local and mobile SEO.

Beginning of the year surprises

Some people expected Google’s Penguin update at the very beginning of 2016. Instead, Google updated its core ranking algorithm, which caused some fluctuations in search rankings.

A significant change at the end of February that impacted click-through rates (CTR) was Google’s update to AdWords. Instead of featuring ads on the right-hand side of the screen, Google moved them to the top of the results page. Consequently, no organic results were above the fold on any type of screen, even desktop computers.

Another update at the end of February was when Google added an Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) news carousel to the top of mobile search results. This was a significant step for the company to improve the user-friendliness of the web.

There was an unconfirmed update in the middle of May, and then Google made another mobile-friendly decision a couple of days later. The company decided to make mobile optimization a more influential ranking factor for search results.

Google Possum

At the beginning of September, Google rolled out Possum, an update with a significant impact. The Possum update affects local listings in particular and is designed to make local searches more effective.

There are several ramifications of the Possum update. Possum filters companies using the same address, broadens city limits, and gives more weight to the actual locations of users.

For example, before the update, businesses that were near a city but were right outside the city limits had difficulty ranking in search results. But their results improved noticeably following Possum.

On the other hand, the Possum update also means that if multiple businesses use the same address (e.g., work in the same office complex), all but one of them will be filtered out of the results. In fact, the update is apparently so specific that it can impact your search results even if you’re simply the owner of multiple companies.

In one case, there was a dentist who had two different practices with different addresses, employees, websites, network access points (NAP), and Google accounts. Before, his practices had simultaneously ranked in the 3-pack. But after the Possum update, they only ranked in the 3-pack one at a time and never together.

Another consequence of the Possum update is that there is a lot more variety in the search results depending on the exact keywords you enter. Also, since Possum, the organic filter and the local filter seem to be operating separately.

Google Penguin

An unexpected shakeup happened in September that caused half of the images in the search results to disappear. Not surprisingly, this disappearance significantly impacted organic rankings. Some speculate this incident occurred because of the Penguin update that came shortly afterward, but Google never confirmed that was the case.

Then the long-awaited Penguin 4 update finally arrived. Google has now merged Penguin with its core algorithm, meaning that Penguin will quickly consider website changes because of real-time refreshes.

The update is granular and will only impact spammy pages. One difference, though, is that rather than penalizing sites for spammy pages, Penguin now devalues their links.

The only other noteworthy event from 2016 was a shift in rankings in November. Some believe this to have been caused by Google testing the mobile-first index. Once again, however, this hypothesis is unconfirmed.

Takeaway

This information should be helpful to SEO experts when planning their strategies this year. The intent of Google updates is clear: websites should follow clean SEO practices and create valuable content. The following gifographic encapsulates every prominent Google search algorithm update rolled out in 2016.

Google’s Biggest Search Algorithm Updates Of 2016, a visual representation by E2M.

 

The post Google’s Biggest Search Algorithm Updates of 2016 [Gifographic] appeared first on Growmap.

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Google’s Biggest Search Algorithm Updates of 2016 [Gifographic]

How to Use Twitter Advanced Search Like a Pro

We all know how powerful Twitter is. It has been estimated that people tweet over 500 million times per day (with over 6000 new tweets per second).

Being one of the biggest social media platforms out there, Twitter hosts an overwhelming amount of content. However, just like any other medium, at times it becomes quite tough to filter this content or search for a specific tweet.

If you have invested hours looking for the right piece of information on Twitter, don’t worry! You are not the only one. When it comes to Twitter, we all face setbacks in trying to filter the most appropriate content. To make things easier for its users, Twitter has come up with a new feature called Twitter Advanced Search.

It might sound all new to you right now, but you can master Twitter’s advanced search tool in no time. In fact, you can use it to boost your marketing and sales strategy as well. Searching on Twitter is no longer a tedious task. It is high time you step up your game on Twitter and start searching like a pro!

In this post, I will make you familiar with some foolproof ways to be a social media ninja, while saving you time and effort. Let’s get started and decode the Twitter advanced search feature.

Start with the basics

If you haven’t used the advanced search option yet, then don’t worry. Start with the basics and make yourself familiar with the common operators and how you can use the search page. Twitter has already published a guideline right here that might come in handy to you while searching for something.

With Twitter search, you can filter content on the basis of words, people, dates, geographic locations, and a lot more. Additionally, there are plenty of operators that you can use to narrow your search. Here are some basic operators you can use while searching for something on Twitter.

Go ahead and give it a try. Identify a negative attitude towards a word, or limit your search to a specific location. After getting familiar with all the advanced features, try capitalizing on these expert suggestions.

Marketing

Needless to say, the biggest motive for using a social media platform such as Twitter is to use it as a marketing tool. If you use it wisely, you can make the advanced search option your biggest marketing weapon on Twitter. Just keep the following suggestions in mind.

#1. Explore relevant hashtags and keywords

This is one of the best ways to generate more leads in less time. Use the “words” section of the advanced search feature thoughtfully, and look for the most relevant keywords or hashtags that are associated with your brand.

You can search for an exact phrase, omit certain words, combine different words together, or simply look for a certain hashtag. As a digital marketer, you should always have a list of keywords and hashtags that are related to your brand and industry. You can use this technique not only to monitor your brand or track your competitor’s moves but also to keep yourself updated with ongoing industry trends.

Additionally, this strategy can help you to filter user-generated content while eliminating unnecessary noise. All you have to do is use your hashtags and keywords wisely while looking for anything on Twitter.

#2. Track username queries, influencers, and conversations

Twitter advanced search has introduced the feature of username search query, which is one of the easiest ways to generate leads and identify key users. With this feature, you can identify leading influencers related to your industry.

You can also track conversations between different accounts by specifying their names in the “from/to these accounts” section. Through tracking conversations, you can learn more about your competitors and how they are interacting with major game players. You can benefit by tracking insightful details about your industry or knowing more about an upcoming event or even a Twitter chat.

#3. Brand monitoring

Brand monitoring is one of the clearest uses of Twitter advanced search. Without the use of any third-party tool, you can gain insightful information about your brand.

You can search for your brand in different ways by selecting specific time durations or by filtering the local content. Additionally, if you have recently launched a campaign or have hosted an event, then you can get to know how your audience is tweeting about it by including its name.

Keep a constant eye on how other users are reacting towards your brand so you can monitor those reactions thoughtfully. If you find doing so overwhelming, then you can always use different brand monitoring tools to make things easier for you.

#4. Content marketing

We all know that content is the driving force of any digital marketing campaign. You can use the Twitter advanced search feature not only to find new content but also to seek inspiration for your next blog post. Just provide the topic name and “http” or any other related keyword. This will give you different web pages and online articles that are related to the searched item.

If you are finding it hard to come up with the next big idea for your blog, why not start reading what other people are sharing related to the provided subject? Doing so will definitely help you a lot to generate a more effective content marketing plan.

#5. Filter out your competitor’s keywords

We all know how overwhelming Twitter can get at times. If you are looking for your industry-related keywords, you might stumble upon plenty of tweets that are directed towards your competitors. While it is always recommended to keep an eye on your competitors, sometimes you just need to filter out the noise and get only a selected piece of information.

You can eliminate this unwanted noise by filtering out the keywords that are usually associated with your competitors. Then you will be able to focus better on your existing customers.

#6. Get visually appealing content

Marketers know how hard it can be at times to handpick the kind of visually appealing content that can create a lasting impact on

How to Use Twitter Advanced Search Like a Pro