Like they do a few times a year, Google rolled out the new core algorithm update for December 2020.
Now, for those out there, who don’t know what precisely these core updates are? How adversely do they affect your site? Are there any solutions out there, if at all you get affected by the update? We have compiled together a guide that answers all your core update related questions and more. Read on!
Core Algorithm Updates – What Are They?
Google works diligently toward improving its search results. Every day they make one or two minor changes, which are not that impactful and gets easily ignored. Many a time, changes are implemented on a specific criterion such as mobile compatibility and speed. Google announces such specific updates well in advance so that everyone is prepared with some preventive measures.
On the other hand, core updates are distinct from the updates mentioned above. Their frequency throughout the year is very low as compared to daily tweaks. They are significantly more impactful and are not targeted to any specific criterion. The core updates are an overall system assessment and an attempt to help the unrewarded pages to do better.
Google core updates are, in fact, a process of improving at determining which pages provide the best solutions to a query.
How do I know If I was affected by the Core Update?
Your site’s performance may likely get hampered in some way or the other due to a Google core update. However, determining which specific area got affected can be a tricky task. Earlier, Google core updates were very punitive. They used to hamper a few sections of the site or sometimes the entire site, leaving them battered and unable to rank high in search results.
At present, core updates are meant solely for improving in determining the search results. In this case, it might turn out that pages that were unrewarded and had lower rankings may start ranking better. On the flipside, pages that were ranking higher may descend to a lower rank as Google’s new algorithm deems other solutions better than the current one for a specific query.
How do I Check Whether My Site is Hit by a Core Update?
To check whether your site is being hit by a core update, you can do the following –
Segmenting your Site Pages & Queries –
Segmentation allows you to drill down your site based on your pages and keywords. It helps you to pinpoint the exact issue then look at the whole site aimlessly. After segmenting the site, you can check which particular URL/keyword combos have been affected after the update and start working on them immediately.
Check the Site Reports –
By mining through the historical data reports, you can gauge whether a particular dip for a page or keyword is chronic or is due to the core algorithm update.
What should I do if My Site was Hit by a Core Update?
Once you have determined whether and how your site has been affected by the core update, you need to take the following approach to get out of the descent.
If a specific URL has descended post the core update, it is mainly because Google’s algorithm determines other URLs provides a better solution to that particular query. One can learn and understand what these new pages or solutions are doing differently than yours. These evaluations will help you make the necessary changes to your URL and get back to terms with the new Google core update.
To know more about how you can efficiently work on your content, Google has provided a guide on how to improve your content quality, here.
