January 2016 Google Updates.

It’s been a busy month for Google so far and there may be more to come.

First it was confirmed that the once standalone Panda update has now been incorporated into the main Google algorithm. The Panda algorithm looks at the quality of websites, pushing those with higher quality content up the rankings.

This was followed by confirmation that Google has also carried out a core algorithm update. It’s too early to confirm the effects of this but we shall be watching our client’s websites with interest over the next few days to see if any have been impacted.

Still to come is an expected update to the Penguin algorithm. This looks at a site’s backlink profile, penalising those that have been indulging in black hat SEO link building techniques. The major change is that this is to become a real time algorithm, as opposed to one that is only run once every few months. This is good news for site owners who do get penalised, as the site should recover as soon as the poor quality links are removed and will no longer have to wait for the next update.