How the Google Search Algorithm Works: A Zero-Fluff Guide

What Is the Google Search Algorithm?

The Google Search algorithm determines which webpages show successful the results that look aft a personification runs a search—and successful what order.

The algorithm considers galore factors to understand which pages are champion suited to reside the query and deserving of ranking (i.e., appearing successful hunt results). Such arsenic really applicable the contented is, if the page loads quickly, really galore trusted websites nexus to the page, and more. 

Let’s dive into really Google’s algorithm useful and the astir important updates. 

How Does Google’s Search Algorithm Work?

The Google Search algorithm (which is really made up of aggregate algorithms that use to different aspects of search) useful by uncovering pages, storing them successful a database, and displaying the astir due ones for different hunt queries.

Here’s a speedy overview of the process Google uses to find and rank pages:

1. Crawling: Google discovers pages, usually by pursuing links connected different pages aliases connected sitemaps
2. Indexing: Google analyzes the page to find what it’s about, whether it’s original, and really precocious successful value it is to determine if the page should beryllium added to the Google index (not each pages will beryllium indexed)
3. Ranking: When personification does a search, Google looks astatine its scale and decides which pages to show—and successful what order. The algorithm comes into play astatine this constituent to show pages that are astir apt to beryllium applicable and adjuvant to searchers.

What Are the Key Google Search Algorithm Ranking Factors?

Ranking factors are the circumstantial signals Google uses to comparison webpages and determine which ones merit apical positions successful hunt results.

While Google apt uses hundreds of signals to rank pages, these are the wide categories that matter most:

1. Content Relevance

Content that’s highly applicable to what group are searching for is much apt to get to the apical of Google. 

Google tries to understand the underlying logic down each search—known arsenic search intent—and service contented that aligns pinch what searchers are looking for. 

There are 4 main types of hunt intent:

• Informational: Users are trying to study astir something
• Commercial: Users are doing investigation to pass a acquisition decision
• Transactional: Users are willing successful taking action for illustration making a purchase
• Navigational: Users are looking for a circumstantial website aliases webpage

To understand personification intent for a fixed keyword and really to create applicable contented for it, cheque what’s already ranking by entering the word into Google. 

In the illustration below, you tin spot that galore top-ranking results are informational pages that supply master tips aliases are framed arsenic eventual guides: 

The Google hunt algo thinks pages for illustration the ones listed supra are what astir group want to spot for that search. And your contented apt needs to beryllium akin if you want to rank. 

You tin thief show that your contented is applicable to the keyword you’re focused connected by including that keyword people successful the page’s:

• Title tag: A title tag is the HTML title that appears successful the browser tab and mightiness show successful hunt results.
• URL slug: A URL slug is the past information of a URL that identifies the page
• H1: An H1 is the main page heading, and it should lucifer aliases beryllium very akin to your title tag
• Meta description: A meta explanation is simply a little HTML page summary that whitethorn show successful hunt results. While it’s not important for ranking, it tin power whether searchers click connected your result.
• Body text: The assemblage matter is the main contented connected your webpage

2. Content Quality

Google prefers to show contented that demonstrates Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) to summation the likelihood that results are useful and valuable for searchers.

E-E-A-T isn’t an charismatic ranking factor, but it’s portion of Google's Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines that are utilized by quality reviewers to measure the value of hunt results. And it provides a adjuvant model for knowing and evaluating content quality.

How do you show E-E-A-T?

Here are immoderate things you tin do:

• Publish useful accusation that satisfies what searchers are looking for (the hunt intent)
• Add value—don’t conscionable regurgitate accusation that already exists elsewhere
• Clearly mention immoderate sources you usage (and make judge they’re up to day and credible)
• Get taxable matter experts to constitute aliases astatine slightest verify your contented to build spot pinch readers

For example, Healthline highlights that articles are written and reviewed by qualified professionals:

Also—if it’s relevant, show first-hand experience.

Take a car reappraisal article arsenic an example.

Some group mightiness for illustration to publication the sentiment of an automotive expert. And others mightiness for illustration to perceive straight from personification who really owns the car and uses it daily.

3. User Experience

The user experience plays an important domiciled successful Google rankings, which intends making your pages easy and pleasant to usage tin springiness you the separator successful rankings.

Pages that supply a bully personification acquisition usually meet these criteria:

• The page loads accelerated (2.5 seconds aliases less)
• The design is mobile-friendly
• The page doesn’t incorporate annoying pop-ups aliases excessive ads
• The page has clear navigation and the broader tract has a logical website structure
• The tract uses a unafraid relationship (HTTPS)

To cheque how accelerated a page loads, usage Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool. 

The instrumentality generates a Core Web Vitals (CWV) report, which includes suggestions connected really to amended velocity based connected the 3 CWV metrics.

To spell moreover deeper into your full website’s personification acquisition performance, usage Semrush’s Site Audit tool.

This instrumentality provides you pinch a “Core Web Vitals” study and a “Performance” study to springiness you ideas connected really to velocity up your pages. And besides includes accusation connected really to reside different UX factors for illustration security, mobile-friendliness, and more.

4. Backlinks

Backlinks are links from different websites that constituent to your pages, and they activity for illustration votes of assurance Google tin usage to spot that your contented is valuable and trustworthy.

Typically, the much celebrated a keyword is, the much difficult it is to rank for. And gaining much backlinks from charismatic websites successful your niche could thief you triumph apical spots.

Take the word “spirulina benefits,” which has a keyword trouble people of 83/100, according to Semrush’s Keyword Overview instrumentality (the higher the score, the much difficult it is to rank). 

The array that appears erstwhile you scroll down successful Keyword Overview shows astir of the apical results person hundreds aliases moreover thousands of backlinks from galore different websites:

Gaining arsenic galore backlinks arsenic imaginable could thief you climb into a top-ranking position, truthful make judge your contented is link-worthy. You tin do this by providing original investigation and insights.

You besides guidelines a amended chance of accumulating backlinks if you’re proactive astir reaching retired to websites to inquire for a link. This is easiest if you trade a personalized connection that helps the website you’re contacting understand why the portion of contented you’re sharing is valuable to their audience.

You apt already cognize of immoderate reputable websites successful your niche you tin scope retired to.

And see utilizing Semrush’s Link Building Tool to streamline the process. Because it allows you to find prospects, scope retired to prospects, and way your advancement each wrong the tool.

5. Topical Authority

Topical authority refers to your website’s expertise successful subjects that are applicable to your brand, and establishing that authority tin thief you gain rankings. 

Google tends to spot sites that show heavy expertise successful their fields—even if they don’t specifically talk it arsenic a ranking factor.

Here’s an example:

Investopedia has thousands of pages covering wealthiness and individual finance.

Many of those pages rank highly for related keywords, including the 1 below:

An effective measurement to build topical authority is by creating topic clusters—groups of interlinked pages covering different angles of the aforesaid wide topic.

For example, if you want to rank for “fish oil,” you’ll summation your chances of occurrence by besides publishing contented connected topics like:

• “fish lipid wellness benefits”
• “fish lipid broadside effects”
• “best food lipid products”
• “different types of food oil”
• “fish lipid vs omega 3”

To get ideas for topics and really to building them, usage Semrush’s Keyword Strategy Builder.

Just participate a fewer wide position related to your business, take your target country, and click “Create list.”

You’ll get a database of topics to attraction your pillar pages (the main page for each taxable cluster) and your subpages (the much circumstantial pages that are related to the main taxable for each cluster) on. And accusation astir the hunt measurement and keyword trouble people for each.

6. Context

Google customizes hunt results based connected contextual factors for illustration wherever the searcher’s located, what instrumentality type the searcher is using, and the searcher’s hunt history. 

For example, if personification enters "pizza places adjacent me" successful Chicago astatine 6 p.m., Google might:

• Show restaurants that are presently open
• Consider the user’s location and prioritize restaurants that are adjacent to them
• Give higher rankings to edifice sites the personification has visited before
• Adjust results based connected whether the personification is connected a mobile instrumentality (looking for nutrient correct now) aliases desktop instrumentality (planning ahead)

This intends ranking positions aren't fixed. So, your page mightiness rank otherwise for users successful different cities, astatine different times, and pinch different hunt histories.

Disputed Ranking Factors

Some commonly discussed SEO topics aren't portion of Google's algorithm—at slightest not successful ways we tin elaborate on. 

Here are the cardinal ones to beryllium alert of:

• Domain age: Simply having an older website won't thief you rank better—it's the value of contented you've built complete clip that matters
• Bounce rate: This metric is the percent of visitors who time off your tract quickly without interacting. While the Google documents that were leaked successful May 2024 bespeak that bounce complaint whitethorn really person a nonstop effect connected rankings (this goes against what Google has said successful the past), we don’t cognize really important it is.
• Domain authority: Many SEO devices usage immoderate benignant of domain authority metric to measure really trustworthy a tract is. It’s imaginable Google has its ain measurement to gauge this, but there’s nary grounds Google considers immoderate third-party metrics 
• Word count: There's nary "perfect" magnitude that Google prefers, truthful attraction connected covering topics thoroughly and clearly
• Keyword density: How often a keyword appears successful your matter isn’t a ranking factor—using a definite building often doesn’t mean your contented is precocious value aliases relevant

A Brief History of Google Algorithm Updates

Google is perpetually refining their hunt algorithm to amended the value and relevance of results and forestall spam tactics.

Here’s a speedy look astatine immoderate of the astir important Google algorithm updates:

Name and Date	Description
Spam Update, March 2024	Strengthened Google's expertise to observe spammy strategies for illustration exploiting expired domains for SEO, publishing tons of low-quality content, and hosting third-party contented without due oversight
Helpful Content Update, August 2022	Established a measurement to reward useful, people-first content
BERT Update, October 2019	Improved Google's knowing of earthy connection and hunt discourse to amended lucifer queries pinch applicable results
RankBrain Update, October 2015	Google’s first AI strategy that helped the hunt motor amended understand caller queries
Mobile-Friendly Update, February 2015	Made mobile-friendliness a important ranking factor, prioritizing pages that execute good connected mobile devices
Hummingbird Update, September 2013	Improved really good Google could understand the meaning of hunt queries and lucifer them to applicable results
Penguin Update, April 2012	Targeted manipulative nexus building practices and keyword stuffing
Panda Update, February 2011	Aimed to trim rankings for low-quality sites and beforehand those that attraction connected quality

What to Do if Your Website Was Affected by an Algorithm Update

Here’s what you tin do if you fishy you’re being negatively impacted by an algorithm update:

1. Confirm There Was an Update

To verify that a Google algorithm update really occurred, sojourn Google's Search Status Dashboard and look for the latest updates astatine the top:

To show hunt volatility successful your circumstantial industry, usage Semrush Sensor. 

For example, the Arts & Entertainment manufacture is experiencing a precocious level of volatility astatine the clip of penning this article:

If location appears to beryllium an update, move to the adjacent step.

If location hasn’t been an update, but you’ve seen a driblet successful hunt postulation aliases rankings, present are immoderate different things to check:

• A competitor mightiness person outranked you (check if they’ve updated aliases added contented aliases gained caller links)
• Tracking errors (make judge Google Analytics and your different devices are moving properly)
• Search volumes could person dropped (due to seasonality aliases trends)
• UX issues connected your website (such arsenic broken links)

2. Evaluate the Impact

If location was an update, you request to fig retired the intent of the update to understand why your tract whitethorn person been affected.

Sometimes, Google will show you straight what they’re trying to execute via updates connected X (formerly Twitter) aliases the Google Search Central Blog. 

If it’s not clear, return a look astatine immoderate of the affected results pages successful your niche.

What changed? Who’s winning? Who’s losing? 

Note what you’re seeing and immoderate communal patterns. 

You besides request to cognize which of your page rankings declined and which improved (if any). 

You tin find this accusation utilizing Google Search Console data.

To analyse changes to your rankings and integrated traffic, spell to “Search results” nether “Performance.” 

And prime the “Pages” tab astatine the apical of the table. 

From here, you tin take a clip framework (like the past 3 months) and comparison it pinch the erstwhile clip framework to analyse immoderate changes.

If you want to way changes for a circumstantial group of keywords, usage Semrush’s Position Tracking tool.

After you group up your project, click “Pages,” and look for the “Average position” column. Notice immoderate pages pinch important declines successful mean position.

3. Make an Action Plan

Once you understand the extremity of the update and which of your pages were affected, you tin commencement to travel up pinch a scheme to recover.

First, hold for things to calm down. Rankings thin to beryllium much volatile successful the early stages of a caller update.

Once the changes person been dependable for a while, spell done your database of affected pages to prioritize them. For example, by postulation aliases conversions.

One by one, return a look astatine the hunt results. 

By analyzing the top-ranking pages and comparing them to your own, you’re apt to spot patterns. Like angles competitors person covered that you haven’t. 

Then, you tin commencement updating contented accordingly. 

Stay Ahead of Google Algorithm Updates

Google’s algorithm changes frequently, truthful it’s important to support an oculus connected your rankings.

The Position Tracking instrumentality helps you way rankings for your astir important keywords, truthful you tin easy spot if you’re gaining aliases losing visibility.

Try it for free to spot wherever you stand.