A few times a year, Google makes substantial improvements to our overall ranking processes, which we refer to as core updates. Core updates are designed to increase the overall relevancy of their search results and make them more helpful for everyone. Recently, the May 2022 Core Update was announced and will take a few weeks to be fully implemented. 

A broad core algorithm update is a “significant” change Google makes to improve search engine rankings overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the internet. These updates can produce noticeable changes in how sites perform.  

Core updates may be announced by Google as they often produce some widely noticeable effects. Some sites may notice drops or gains in their SEO performance and Search Visibility during these updates and shortly afterwards as volatility in search rankings is a common occurrence following any major updates. Core updates are usually broad in the sense that they don’t target one specific thing and are rather designed to improve Google overall. Many site owners will notice this and try to implement changes too quickly to recover any lost rankings, but it’s important not to try and fix anything that might not actually be broken in the first place and seek expert help in isolating the issue before acting.

• There will be noticeable effects, such as spikes or drops in overall search rankings.
• If a page drops in ranking, it’s not being penalised, it’s being reassessed against other web content that has been published since the previous update.
• Broad core updates happen every few months, sites
  may not recover from one update until the next one rolls out, but the wait isn’t long.
• Improvements don’t guarantee recovery, however choosing not to implement any improvements will also guarantee no recovery at all.

It’s important to make sure your website adheres to Google’s webmaster guidelines where possible and doesn’t give any ‘bad actor’ signals to the algorithm.

From an on-page SEO perspective, you really need to isolate each key SEO element on your website and check it to ensure that you’re doing the right thing.

To help you ensure your content is up to the mark, here are some of the key considerations:

• Does the content provide original information on a subject?
• Does the content provide a comprehensive description of the project?
• Does the content provide insightful analysis or interesting information that the user can’t find elsewhere?
• If the content draws on other sources, is it presenting it in a way that adds value?
• Does the headline or page title provide a descriptive and helpful summary of the content?

With all this in mind, it’s important to remember that some pages will not regain visibility until Google’s next update. This is because there may be bugs in the update that we are not aware of, and in this case, patience is key.

Whenever Google undertakes a core update on its search engine rankings, it means that your site can either improve or decrease in its rankings. This is something that is largely out of your power, so knowing when Google makes an update can give you something to point at when it comes to knowing why these changes are happening. Despite these changes, it’s important to know that this isn’t a penalisation and can be a net positive in the future.

At PerfectLinkBuilding.com, we are experts at helping websites produce optimised web pages which are favoured by Google Updates and future-proofed against updates yet to be released. We can help analyze your website’s overall performance and make accurate assessments on how you may have been affected by recent Google Updates to return you to ongoing growth as quickly as possible.