How to Prepare for a Google New SEO Update
Google frequently revises its ranking algorithms, designed to enhance search engine results and provide more relevant data for its users.
Google’s Caffeine update improved Google’s ability to locate and index new content more quickly, rewarding that which provided first-hand knowledge or expertise.
This core update targeted all regions and languages to promote and reward high-quality web pages that were of particular value for YMYL queries, such as health and finance.
What is Google’s Algorithm Updates?
Google regularly implements updates that impact search rankings, from minor algorithm tweaks to major shifts in ranking factors. All these updates aim to enhance user experience by surface useful content while simultaneously demoting low-quality pages.
Google recently implemented a change to their Quality Rater Guidelines that required pages focused solely on selling products or services and lacking comprehensive, relevant content to comply with an “first-hand experience” requirement. This change would impact pages that solely offer products or services while lacking in-depth, detailed knowledge.
This update caused significant fluctuations in search engine rankings and had an enormous impactful for e-commerce websites as well as significantly impactful YMYL queries.
This unconfirmed update lasted three weeks and had a noticeable ripple effect across SERPs. MozCast recorded a 40% reduction in Featured Snippets while SERPs became more volatile than usual; health and finance pages were particularly hard hit by this unexpected update.
How to Prepare for Google’s Algorithm Updates
Google’s algorithm updates can present digital marketers with a formidable challenge, impacting website rankings and search visibility. But there are ways of mitigating their effects by being prepared.
SEOs should prioritize providing their websites with quality content and user experience to increase ranking after an algorithm update. In addition, they should take steps to minimize site speed, minimize page load time, and eliminate technical errors.
Preparing for an algorithm update also involves paying close attention to the quality of backlinks on a website. Google’s algorithms prioritize sites with high-quality backlinks, as they prioritize sites with positive associations such as positive reviews, testimonials and social media activity that builds trust and authority for visitors. Content should also be regularly updated through adding new pages or eliminating outdated ones.
What to Do After Google’s Algorithm Updates
Google’s algorithms are always evolving to solve issues and deliver searchers the most optimal results, and it is impossible to know the precise impact of each update on searchers’ experiences. One way of weathering any storm is creating quality content with useful information and sharing it on social media channels such as LinkedIn or Medium.
The Caffeine update made Google more efficient at finding and indexing new content, favoring websites with fresh data. Furthermore, this algorithmic change increased rankings of sites whose written text used natural language syntax.
This update provided a boost for websites in the health and finance verticals which demonstrated expertise, authority, and trust (E-A-T). Conversely, it demoted those with thin content or poor quality results.
The Speed Update officially made website load time an official ranking factor for mobile searches, while simultaneously impacting desktop searches for the first time ever.
What to Avoid After Google’s Algorithm Updates
Google’s algorithm updates are designed to address specific issues, and each update takes its own route in doing so. No matter its purpose, however, each will strive to surface helpful content while devaluing thin or irrelevant ones.
One of the most notable algorithm changes was Google’s Caffeine Update in June 2010, intended to revitalize their index and deliver 50% fresher search results.
The May Day Update focused on helping users quickly locate websites relevant to their long-tail searches, while emphasizing the significance of E.E.A.T (expertise, authority and trustworthiness) when ranking websites.
The December 2021 core update came as quite a shock to SEO practitioners when it was made available just days before Christmas. Thought to target health misinformation in SERPs and black-hat SEO practitioners alike.