The algorithm is the formula for how search engines rank web pages.
Google uses a lot of things to decide what the best page is and it changes often to continuously improve how it delivers “the most relevant and reliable information”.
These changes are called “algorithm updates”. Google does make small changes to the ranking algorithm on a regular basis, but it only makes a few big updates each year that have any significant impact. These are known as “core updates”.
To put it in plain English, Google uses algorithm updates to improve the quality of search results for people who use it.
What My Site Ranked has to say about it:
Algorithm updates aren’t something to fear. Period. In fact, they might even help you!
Google’s fundamental factors for ranking web pages never change dramatically, so if you are following everything Google and My Site Ranked advises, you’ll be just fine.
Curious what those fundamentals are? See Google’s SEO Starter Guide here.
Additional Resources:
https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-algorithm-updates
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
