It is a common practice for Google to update its algorithm many times a year for better results; accurate, relevant and secure pages for its users. Knowing what kind of updates are going on can help you stay up-to-date with best SEO practices and can help you to improve your website’s rankings, if by chance it is hit by any Google update.
There are many updates took place in the year 2021; some of them were core updates, released in June, July and November. However, either it is a core update or any other minor update, it is important to know about it in detail to overcome its consequences, if any.
Following is the complete list of 2021 Google Algorithm Updates:
- Passage Ranking Update (February 2021)
- "About this result" update (February 2021)
- Featured Snippet Recovery (February & March 2021)
- 100% Mobile-First Indexing Update (March 2021)
- Product Review Update (April 2021)
- MUM (June 2021)
- Link Spam Update (June 2021)
- Page Experience Update (June 2021)
- Google Core Update (June & July 2021)
- Link Spam Update (July 2021)
- Page Title Rewrites (August 2021)
- Spam Update (November 2021)
- Core Update (November 2021)
The Top Google Algorithm Updates of 2021
Passage Ranking Update (February 2021):
Google announced about Passage Ranking Update in October 2020, however, it went live in February 2021.
What is Passage Ranking Update? With this update, Google can index not only complete web pages, but individual paragraphs or sentences from those long-form web pages to show up as the featured snippet. The main aim of Passage Ranking Update was to quickly answer the queries, instead of using the complete relevant web page to find it. According to Google, Passage Ranking Update affected 7% of search queries across all languages.
Difference between Passage Indexing & Passage Ranking: When Passage Ranking Update was first announced by Google, the company called it “Passage Indexing”, however, as this term was not defining the purpose accurately; Google called it “Passage Ranking”
"About this result" update (February 2021):
This was the new feature added by Google to help searchers learn more about the sources of the results and it is represented by three dots. By tapping on these three dots on any search result, you will be able to see this ‘about this result” card.
Featured Snippet Recovery (February & March 2021):
In mid-February, we noticed that featured snippets were removed from countless SERPs on Google, however, later on these snippets were started displaying again. As this update was never been confirmed or denied by Google, the mystery behind this update is unsolved.
100% Mobile-First Indexing Update (March 2021):
Mobile first Indexing was introduced in the year 2016, a year later when Google began placing more importance on mobile friendliness as a ranking factor in 2015. As of July 2019, mobile-first indexing became the default for all new websites. And as of June 2021, it is mandatory to have a responsive website, either old or new.
Product Review Update (April 2021):
April’s Product Review Update was important for e-commerce websites. The main goal of this update was to display the most useful and helpful information possible with the help of in-depth product reviews. Therefore, Google encouraged content writers to write useful reviews about the products instead of just summarize the list of products.
MUM (June 2021):
Multitask Unified Model (also known as MUM) used AI to improve the search experience for users and more powerful than BERT. MUM is designed to answer the complex questions. The goal of Multitask Unified Model (MUM) is to use related information from different sources to display comprehensive answers to complex questions.
Spam Update (June 2021):
Next in June 2021 came the Link Spam Update. This update did not impact any website using white-hat SEO techniques. However, it is always advisable to keep on top of the latest Google webmaster guidelines.
Page Experience Update (June 2021):
June’s Page Experience Update is the most important update of the year. In this update Google introduced a specific set of metrics called ‘Core Web Vitals’, which includes LCP, FID and CLS. You can access this info through Search Console. Each of the reports under Search Console comes with recommendations to improve the responsiveness of the page.
Google Core Update (June & July 2021):
Google’s Summer Core Update was the big one. It came into two parts; June and July and connected to each another. According to Google, some of the parts were not ready in June 2021, so they pushed the pending stuff in July 2021.
With this Core update, the top five most affected sectors were Health, Autos & Vehicles, Science, Pets & Animals & Travel, and, on the mobile SERPs, the most impacted sectors were Real Estate, People & Society, and Beauty & Fitness.
Link Spam Update (July 2021):
Another link spam update rolled out in July 2021 and this time it was focusing on backlinks. Google stopped counting inappropriate links towards a page ranking and quality score. So, anyone facing traffic issues just after this update were advisable to check the quality of their backlinks.
Page Title Rewrites (August 2021):
It is a common practice for Google to tweak the page titles in SERP according to the query. However, Google’s Page Title Rewrite update was very interesting. Google started displaying different ‘headlines’ in search results instead of Page Title. SEO Consultants were advisable to write Page Title and headlines carefully after this update.
Spam Update (November 2021):
Another spam update rolled out in November 2021 to target the websites breaking Google’s general content guidelines. Do keep an eye on your SEO performance and traffic and if you notice any fluctuations, it could be time to refresh your content.
Core Update (November 2021):
Another confirmed Google’s Algorithm update rolled out in November 2021. After this update, Health and Real Estate, in particular, have seen a big change in performance.
Getting the desired results/rankings by your own in this competitive world is next to impossible. So, hiring a digital marketing company in India is the best solution. At Digital Netsol, we have deep knowledge about white hat SEO techniques and Google Algorithm updates. With high-quality professional services from Digital Netsol, your online business can touch new heights of success. Contact us today at info@digitalnetsol.com, or Call us +918699642259.