SEO is a crucial marketing strategy for any business with an online presence. But while there are fundamental best practices to lay down for your website, you are always at the whim of Google.
Google’s uses over 200 different ranking factors to determine their search results, with some more important than others. On top of that, their algorithm is always changing. Read more about Google Algorithm updates here.
Occasionally, Google roll out a “Core Update”. These are significant changes to their algorithm, rather than small, regular tweaks which happen multiple times a day.
A core update only occurs two or three times a year, and can take weeks to roll out.
Where a small algorithm change might only impact 0.1% of searches, a Core update can impact 5-10% of searches.
According to Google, the reasoning for Core Updates is as follows:
Core updates are designed to ensure that overall, we’re delivering on our mission to present helpful and reliable results for searchers. These changes are broad in nature, and don’t target specific sites or individual web pages. As content on the web changes, we assess and update our systems to keep pace, as a whole.
Unfortunately, these Core updates can cause extreme volatility in the search rankings, even for websites that have good SEO practices and have been performing well. Fortunately, these volatile ranking movements are usually temporary.
Have your website rankings have dropped significantly?
If your website experiences large drops in rankings, don’t panic. The worst thing you can do is action “quick fixes” to try and help you recover.
First, research whether there has been a Core update rolling out, noting when it commenced and when it was completed. Wait a week until after the completion date, and then compare your rankings to the week prior to rollout commencing.
If there’s only been a small drop in rankings between those 2 dates, there’s no need to take major action. Most of the time, websites will bounce back within the week after a Core update rollout.
If you’re still noticing large drops a week after the rollout completed, you should do a deeper assessment.
Digging Deeper After a Core Update
If you’re rankings have dropped dramatically and not bounced back after a Core update, there are a number of things you can do.
Manually reviewing your content is an important starting point. Google has provided some guidelines to help you assess the quality of your pages.
- Does the content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?
- Does the content provide a substantial, complete, or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond the obvious?
- If the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources, and instead provide substantial additional value and originality?
- Does the main heading or page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?
- Does the main heading or page title avoid exaggerating or being shocking in nature?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia, or book?
- Does the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- Does the content have any spelling or stylistic issues?
- Is the content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
Improving your content should always be the first place to look if you’ve been impacted.
Your web pages should demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, or what Google calls E-E-A-T.
Content should focus on the users first
While optimising your website for SEO is important, it shouldn’t be the primary focus. Content should be written for users, providing an optimal experience that is useful. Ensuring it is optimised for search is important, but it shouldn’t be done at the detriment of the user experience.
For help on this we recommend engaging an SEO agency, who can ensure your website pages are optimised for SEO and ranks well in Google, while still providing natural, engaging content that resonates with prospects.
Keeping on top of algorithm updates is crucial for online success. Not having a knee jerk reaction to ranking volatility after a Core update is equally important. Manual assessing your content if your rankings get hit and don’t bounce back is crucial. Good luck!
