Later today, we are releasing a broad core update, as we do several times per year. It is called the June 2021 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates is here:https://t.co/e5ZQUA3RC6
This will be followed by the July 2021 Core update. Here’s more information about that…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) June 2, 2021
What We Learned About SEO in 2021- A Short Summary of the Last 12 Months
Another year has past and just like the previous ones, it brought many changes in the SEO world. That’s why we prepared a summary of the 5 most important updates of the Google search that took place in 2021.
Top 5 Most Important SEO Changes in 2021
Each year Google’s algorithms are updated hundreds of times to guarantee the most relevant and reliable search results. Most of the updates go unnoticed or have a minimal impact on the current positions in SERP. However, from time to time, there are changes that shake the SEO world and put even the most experienced specialists off their stroke. Below you will find a list of the 5 most influential Google Search updates for SEO in 2021.
1. Page Experience
The update implemented between June and September brought a new element in the Google Search Console report under the name of Page Experience. It takes into account factors such as Core Web Vitals, website responsiveness and security, the presence of the HTTPS protocol, and how the quantity and quality of advertisements placed on the website affect the user’s experience.
2. Google Link Spam
Link Spam Update is another weapon in Google’s arsenal in a fight against link spam that started with the Pingwin 4.0 algorithm. The links on the web have been re-evaluated by new algorithms to identify spammy links and exclude them from the evaluation of the website they lead to. Links from sites participating in link spam activities have been completely ignored. This means that websites using such practices could notice significant drops in their positions in SERPs.
3. Summer Broad Core Update(s)
In June and July two updates of the main Google algorithm, i.e. core algorithm, rolled out leaving everyone confused. Until now, core updates have never been released in such a short time interval. The first update caused a significant change in search results, but the fluctuation varied depending on the industry.
4. Product Reviews Update
On December 1st, Google announced another update of product reviews. The intention was to give comprehensive, accurate, and authoritative product reviews an advantage in search results. The Product Reviews update was completed on December 21st, and it caused a much greater disturbance than its April predecessor. It is clear to SEO specialists that this is not the last update of product reviews, which means we can expect more reshuffles in the SERP results in the future.
5. MUM
MUM – Multitask Unified Model, is undoubtedly the algorithm that announcement on Google’s I / O 2021 caused the greatest commotion. MUM is a series of minor algorithms that make up a revolutionary technology that uses machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Its goal is to better understand users’ queries and thus give them more accurate answers. It’s impossible to predict what changes will be brought by this new technology since this is only the beginning of its introduction. However, taking into account that the current Direct Answer is treated as a substitute for MUM, we can expect that the new solutions will be liked by users, and not necessarily by SEO professionals.
What Can We Expect in 2022?
What can we learn from what happened in SEO in 2021? Analyzing the most important modifications to the algorithms that have taken place in the last 12 months can help us understand the direction Google is headed. Based on that knowledge, we can try to predict what we will have to face in the upcoming year and better plan our activities. The trends we can see now are likely to continue in 2022.
So what can we expect? Certainly, further actions against spammy links, and user-oriented attitude, both in terms of the relevance of searches and the UX level of websites.
