SEO 2021 in review: Endless updates, title rewrites, GMB becomes GBP and more
Despite facing a still-raging pandemic and a slew of updates, SEOs rose to the challenge. Here’s our recap of the year’s most important SEO stories and news.
Topic: Diffusing update algorithm
Google December 2021 product reviews update is finished rolling out
Google has confirmed this update is now complete - days before the Christmas holiday.
Non-stop updates: SEOs share the impact on their day-to-day, work-life balance and career outlook
Stakeholder expectations seem more realistic as the industry has matured, but Google’s updates may be influencing career paths.
Google also had a local search update from November 30 through December 8
This overlapped other ranking updates and a Google map and local pack update design change.
Google’s December 2021 product reviews update was bigger than the April product reviews update, say data providers
RankRanger and Semrush provided us with exclusive data breaking down the two product reviews updates we had this year.
Google December 2021 product reviews update is rolling out now
The update will take about three weeks to fully rollout, Google said.
Google November 2021 core update is finished rolling out
This update surprised many, since it started to roll out on November 17th and continued rolling out over the largest online shopping period for the year.
Lost SEO traffic in 2021? Here are 3 potential reasons why (and how to recover your rankings heading into 2022)
From site speed to link spam, here is how to recover lost traffic in 2022.
Google’s November 2021 core update hit fast and hard; here is what the data providers saw
The results from this data showed that this rollout hit hard within the first 24 hours of the announcement and then slowed fast.
SEO community feels blindsided by November core update as Google defends timing
SEOs have a few opinions on the timing of this update.
Google November 2021 Core Update rolling out today
We have a new core update rolling out later today.
Google November spam update is fully rolled out
This rollout took about 8 days to complete - so check your rankings to see if you were impacted.
New retail integrations from Microsoft and Google in time for the holidays; Friday’s daily brief
Plus, Facebook updates measurement and reporting products
Google search results are more volatile this year than last year, says data provider
Semrush data shows Google's search results have been over 68% more volatile on desktop and 85% more volatile on mobile.
Google explains why it made the title change to the search results
Google said it went from using your HTML title tag 80% of the time to 87% of the time in the past couple of weeks.
Google confirms it changed how it creates titles for search result listings
Google no longer uses the query to generate these titles but still uses HTML title tags 80% of the time.
Google link spam update done rolling out
It took an extra two weeks longer than expected to roll out.
The Google link spam update is rolling out; Wednesday’s daily brief
And, the review stars are back in Google Search results.
Google Search link spam update rolling out now
A new spam algorithm is rolling out over the next two weeks aimed at fighting link spam more broadly.
There isn’t always a quick answer in SEO and that is okay; Wednesday’s daily brief
Search Console changed how you debug some AMP URLs.
The July core update is “effectively complete”; Tuesday’s daily brief
And, how search professionals can help fight against misinformation in their communities.
Google July 2021 core update is finished rolling out
After 12-days, Google said the July 2021 core update is done. It rolled out between July 1st and July 12th.
Google’s July 2021 core update rolled out quickly; here is what the data providers saw
While the June core update took a while to start rolling out, the July core update hit hard and fast.
Are all the Google algorithm updates too much to handle?; Wednesday’s daily brief
Also, Google talks about search rankings and spam prevention.
Another one… another algo update, that is; Friday’s daily brief
Plus, more unskippable YouTube ads
Google July 2021 core update rolling out now
This update is the second part of the June 2021 core update.
Part two of Google Search spam update on June 28 rolling out
This update impacts both web and image results and is a global update.
Demonstrating E-A-T: Tactics to implement, and avoid, for greater search visibility
Lily Ray of Amsive Digital shares trends that are common among core update losers and the techniques she uses to help her clients bolster their E-A-T.
Google page experience update rolls out just as core update finishes; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, Google Search Console Insights report is now open to all
Google’s June 2021 core update was slow to roll out; here is what the data providers saw
This update took longer to roll out than previous core updates; we are expecting more from the July 2021 core update.
Google search rankings algorithm check-in; Friday’s daily brief
Local Service Ads Google bug, speeding up images and the value of our old internet companies.
Google product reviews update is done rolling out
Google did say while it is fully rolled out, the caveat is there may be "some edge case lingering."
Google product reviews algorithm update was big but not like a core update, say data providers
Here is a roundup of the impact of Google's most recent algorithm update that touched down on April 8, 2021.
Google released a new algorithm update, it’s not a core update, it’s a product review update; Friday’s daily brief
Also a bit on Google vs SEOs; the adversarial/evolutionary relationship.
Google announces product reviews algorithm update
Google has released a new quality algorithm update that promotes outstanding product reviews.
Google goes dark theme and passage ranking sees the light: Friday’s daily brief
Plus, making the case for more Google Search Console data.
Video: Dawn Beobide on Google confirmed vs unconfirmed algorithm updates
We also spoke about the upcoming Google Page Experience Update.
SEO year in review 2020: COVID forces platforms to adapt their local and e-commerce offerings, and more
Even a pandemic couldn’t slow down developments in the search industry. Here’s our recap of the year’s most important stories and news.
Some early observations on the Google December core update
Some of these observations are based on the quality raters guidelines, the past core updates, and sound SEO advice.
Google December 2020 core update is now fully rolled out
Make sure to review your analytics and data and take the necessary steps if your site was negatively impacted.