Google processes trillions of searches every year. They use the mountains of data they collect in the process to guide them in tweaking their search engine algorithms—in 2019 alone they made more than 3,000 changes.
Most of these changes have little effects on search results, so businesses don’t notice them. But every now and then they release a big one—a broad core update. And on May 4 they launched a doozy.
What is a Google core update?
A core update makes broad and impactful changes to Google’s algorithms—the company usually releases several of them a year. Their purpose is to improve search results by cuing up more relevant, trustworthy content.
Great for users. Not always so great for businesses and marketers.
That’s because Google rarely releases any substantive information about core updates and who exactly they’ll affect (the company is nothing if not enigmatic). After a core update, industry experts are left scrambling to decode the changes and their impact.
And there are always winners and losers. Some brand sites will notice gains in search rankings, others will notice drops. Usually this reflects the relevancy (according to Google) of a site’s content.
Here’s how Google describes the purpose of core updates:
“One way to think of how a core update operates is to imagine you made a list of the top 100 movies in 2015. A few years later in 2019, you refresh the list. It’s going to naturally change. Some new and wonderful movies that never existed before will now be candidates for inclusion.
You might also reassess some films and realize they deserved a higher place on the list than they had before. The list will change, and films previously higher on the list that move down aren’t bad. There are simply more deserving films that are coming before them.”
In this analogy websites are the movies, and sites with better, more relevant content are going to get higher rankings.
Why core updates cause ranking volatility
Ranking changes after a core update can be volatile for a couple of reasons. First, because it often takes a while for the changes to hit data centers around the world. Second, because there are always some false positives—meaning relevant sites that get caught in the crosshairs and wind up unfairly negatively impacted.
It takes a while for Google’s engineers to measure feedback, review search results, and make changes to reverse those losses (but not before the site owners pull their hair out trying to figure out the sudden drop in rankings—thanks, Google!).
Which industries were affected?
Like all core updates, the Google 2020 update in May was broad and not specific to any category of websites or to any specific region. And according to several search data companies, it was huge—even larger than the January 2020 update.
An early analysis by SEMrush showed the following industries were most heavily impacted immediately following the May 2020 update:
- Travel
- Real estate
- Pets and animals
- People and society
Google’s ultimate goal is to deliver quality content provided by trustworthy thought leaders and experts who have clout. Analysts point out that sites with a combination of strong backlinks (authority) and quality content (expertise) are the winners of this latest core update, while sites with poor content, weak backlinks, and limited branding were among the losers.
This, they say, indicates that Google’s latest update was of the E-A-T (expertise, authority, trustworthiness) variety.
What to do if you’ve been negatively impacted
Now that the latest core update has been completely rolled out, it’s safe to do a full analysis of its impact (or better yet, hire a search strategy expert to do one). Odds are you’ve already noticed whether the update had a positive or negative impact on your site. As with past core updates, Google offers some advice on what to do if you’ve been negatively impacted.
Focus on content
Here are some questions Google suggests considering when evaluating your content:
- Does your content provide original information, reporting, research, or analysis?
- Does your content provide a substantial or comprehensive description of the topic?
- If your content draws on other sources, are you avoiding simply copying or rewriting those sources and instead providing additional value and originality?
- Does your headline and/or page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
Regarding expertise:
- Does your content present information in a way that makes you want to trust it, such as clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, or background about the author or the site that publishes it, including links to an author page or About page?
- Is your content written by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
- Is your content free from easily verified factual errors?
- Would you feel comfortable trusting this content for issues relating to your money or your life?
Regarding presentation:
- Is your content free from spelling or stylistic issues?
- Is your content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- Does your content have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Does your content display well when viewed on mobile devices?
Compared to other sites:
- Does your content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- Does your content seem to be serving the genuine interests of visitors to the site or does it seem to exist solely by someone attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
Additional suggestions and advice
- Perform an audit if your ranking drops. Which pages were most impacted, and for which types of searches?
- Ask someone you trust who is unaffiliated with your site to give you an honest assessment—another pair of eyes is always a good idea.
- Wait until all the changes are rolled out and the results to settle down before making any changes to your site. Give your changes a little time to “take hold.”
- Keep your eyes peeled for the winners after a core update and try to understand why those sites were successful.
- Learn about how Google raters assess quality content and modify your content to meet those standards. Make some time to read the latest Search Quality Raters Guidelines.
Get Help from the Experts
The digital marketing pros at National Positions will analyze your site from top to bottom to help you develop a solid search strategy and content marketing solutions that meet Google’s ever-stringent standards. Call us today at (818) 740-4774 for help with PPC, SEO, and more.