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Best practices to track Google Algorithm updates

Google's SEO landscape is volatile. Google releases regular algorithmic updates throughout the year, and it plays a pivotal role in determining SEO strategies and their results. However, it is not easy to track every Google Algorithm update regularly, as the smaller updates often remain unannounced.

Having said that, it is important for website content writers, content marketers, and content writing services to know about these smaller changes along with the significant updates. The reason is simple, it helps them tweak the content to best suit such alterations.

So, in this blog, you will learn about the best practices for tracking Google algorithm updates and why they’re necessary for content marketing. 

Why should you track Google Algorithm updates?

All of us want to see our content rank among Google's top search results. Thus, you need to ensure your content is optimised for the Google search engine using the latest SEO techniques. 

Now, the changes accompanied by the updates to the Google Algorithm play a key role in this. Since Google is constantly working to adjust its algorithm to generate the best search results, a small change in Google’s algorithm can have a drastic effect on your website’s rank on SERPs. Hence, you must be aware of the updates to Google's algorithm. 

Google periodically name its major algorithmic updates like Penguin and Panda. These updates have significant effects on your search results. Thus, every business owner, specifically content marketers, content writers, and blog content writing services, should be aware of these major changes. It protects your website ranking from a potential drop. 

Strategies to track Google Algorithm updates

Here are some strategies that you can implement to track the Google updates regularly –

Set up Google Alerts

The easiest way to get updates on Google's algorithm is Google Alerts. By setting up Google Alerts, you will get news about changes in Google's algorithm directly through email. You can also set customised alerts on topic, source, frequency, quality, phrase, and source. 

For example, if you set up an alert about a particular topic, it will keep you updated about the changes in search results. This alert will always send you the top search results on your keywords. Also, Google Alerts tell you what other people, brands, and your competitors are saying about the topic, whether it might become a trending topic or not. 

Check Twitter hashtags

Twitter can also be an excellent Google algorithm checker and news provider. You will find algorithm news on Twitter from industry influencers and relevant hashtags such as #GoogleAlgorithm and #GoogleUpdate. You can also follow experts on Twitter to get the latest news about Google's algorithm. 

Moreover, Twitter gives you insights into where the major industry leaders focus and how they approach the updated algorithm. 

Follow Search Engine Journal and Google Webmaster Central Blog

Search Engine Journal has covered all the news regarding Google's algorithm from 2003 to the present. This journal incorporates everything associated with the algorithm, such as the algorithm name, a brief overview of the changes, links to the official announcements, whether the update is confirmed or not, and the rollout dates. Additionally, you can subscribe to the newsletters of Search Engine Journal and follow them on social media platforms. 

The Google Webmaster Central Blog is another recommended method to find out about the algorithm changes. Even though blogs are not posted frequently, they always cover critical changes without fail. For example, you can find blogs about the rollout of Panda, Page Layout algorithm, etc. But Google always publishes these blogs in advance by month or weeks. 

Follow industry leaders

Following the industry thought leaders is another best practice for getting information about Google algorithm changes. There are several thought leaders in the SEO industry, such as John Mueller, Rand Fishkin, Matt Cutts, and more. Some of them lead companies and the rest are individual players. Most of these personalities are known for their contributions to the tech industry. So, if you’re a technical content writing service provider, you must follow them to understand the major changes in technical and non-technical SEO. You can sign up for their email lists or subscribe to newsletters to know the latest algorithm news. 

Keep an eye on the web traffic 

Your analytics platforms help measure your site's web traffic and search rankings. Also, they will provide SERP metrics that show the fluctuations of search results through a chart. So, you can easily compare two search results and determine what changes have occurred in the last 30 days. Thus, by tracking web traffic, you can know about the impactful updates about the algorithm. 

Watch Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a sophisticated tool that helps to track website traffic, changes in search results, and other metrics. It enables you to generate reports on advertising, audience, conversion, and the audience's behaviours. Moreover, it allows you to analyse funnels and acquire data from websites and ad campaigns. Thus, it becomes a transparent tool for the website content writers.

Use other third-party tools

Moreover, you can use other third-party tools like SEMrush Sensor, Penguin, Rank Ranger, etc., to get the latest algorithm updates. SEMrush Sensor helps you know about the ranking changes, which are further divided into 20 categories by device. Furthermore, it elaborates on SERP changes (for the last 1 month), location, industry or category-based volatility scores, volatility of SERP features, and position tracking, comparing the AMP and HTTPS across countries.  

Penguin is another free SEO tool that helps you to determine Google algorithm updates. It offers organic visibility, keyword optimisation, local ranking, back-link optimisation, website performance through mobile search results, and more. 

Furthermore, Rank Ranger helps you monitor 10000+ domains and keywords every day. By doing this, you can find out the ranking patterns and the changes in mobile and desktop search results. To check the organic SEO, it offers daily, weekly, and monthly rank tracking, rank comparisons for search engines, technical SEO site audits, landing page fluctuations, and more. Thus, it becomes a suitable tool for technical content writing services, too. 

Conclusion