I regularly get asked how frequently Google change their ranking algorithm, and how this affects rankings. The simple answer is: often! Major algorithm changes can have pretty dramatic effects on search engine rankings, and can cause no end of headaches for search engine marketing professionals.

In fact, the algorithm is typically updated and changed up to 10 times every week! Not all of these changes are major. For instance, the PageRank algorithm is updated less frequently, the last major update (at time of writing) being back in January 2008. Most of these small changes won’t have much effect on your website’s position within the search results. So, why do they keep changing it?

Google is concerned with the quality of the results it delivers, and has an active program of improvements to ensure that results are local and language targetted, and are what the user was searching for. Searches that are not performing well are flagged up, and changes are made to ensure that Google remains in its hard-earned number 1 slot. Google, by their own admission, experiment a lot and have advanced systems to track user behaviour and trends which can then identify whether changes are successful or not.

There is no magic secret to getting around algorithm changes, and it is normal for a website’s ranking to fluctuate within the search results, particularly if it has not been well established in a particular keyword cloud.

The best SEO methods are, as always, the Google prescribed methods of delivering quality content (and plenty of it) that others will want to view and link to. Ensuring that you make full use of Google’s webmaster tools and other technologies like XML site maps and RSS feeds will make sure that Google is visiting your website regularly, and as a result, algorithm changes will have less overall impact. A good spread of content is also useful in this regard.

My site (the one you’re reading) is well indexed by Google. My posts typically appear within the Google Index in around 30 minutes. They will bounce up and down, before settling a little – generally at the top end of the results. I have been writing content for many years, and my website currently has archived content going back to March 2006. That’s pretty useful.

A lot of companies working on improving their search engine rankings focus far too much on the results, checking them every day and then panicking when they slip, usually blaming an algorithm change by Google. The fact is, SEO is and always has been a long-term view. Check your rankings once per month. If they are really poor, check again a few days later just in case it was just a brief fluctuation. Most of all, don’t make huge wholesale changes to your website in a short space of time. Little and often is the key.

In summary, Google is always updating its algorithm – after all, it is the key to their success, so you can be sure they look after it – and generally, these changes will not have an adverse effect on your website unless you are doing things wrong in the first place.