What does that mean for your business and website?

Last week, Google released the first of 2 planned core updates this summer. The next core update is due to be released in July. 

In general, Google core updates only come out a few times per year at most.

So why two updates within about a month? And how is this going to impact your website and business?

Read on…

Why is a Google core update important?

Just to be clear, Google makes updates–multiple updates–to improve search results in any given week. In many cases, these are small changes that may only affect a tiny segment of the vast world wide web.

A google core update paints a broader stroke on the algorithms. Core updates tend to affect many more websites. In some cases, large categories of websites can take huge hits in traffic while others see a jump.

That’s why it is important to know when Google rolls out a core update. Changes in your website traffic can come for a variety of reasons. For example, if you let a security certificate (SSL) expire, you’ll see an almost immediate drop in traffic–because Google and other search engines want to make sure they are sending people to secure sites. 

So, if you notice a change in your traffic, you should first start by checking if Google released any core updates. If that’s the case, it may be time to investigate how the updates may be impacting your site.

If your website traffic drops and there is no core update, you might have to identify and troubleshoot other issues on your website. Of course, this can be a complicated task. You could save time and headaches by having a SEO expert check out your website. 

Why is Google Search getting updated?

Most of our computers and smart devices are updated regularly. It helps improve user experience, security, and functionality. 

The same holds true for the Google Search Console. Google wants to give users the best possible experience to find high-quality, relevant results for their search queries. Google search gets billions of queries a day from around the world. And, as you could guess, the systems in place are numerous and complex to assess the content of nearly 2 billion websites (about 400 million of them are active).

In fact, it takes thousands of updates each year to allow Google to evolve with the ever-changing landscape of the web.  

Google Core Update June and July 2021

On June 2, 2021 Google rolled out it’s first core update in nearly six months. According to chatter from SEO experts, the June Core updates seemed to take a few days before webmasters saw noticeable results. By Saturday (June 5th), it seemed like some sites were noticing the impact–both positive and negative.

So why are there two core updates within a month? As we mentioned earlier, core updates usually appear every 3 to 6 months.

The answer is actually pretty simple…Some of the proposed update modules weren’t ready. Instead of waiting until everything was complete, Google released the partial rollout update in June. The rest will come in July.  

Did you notice any changes? This may not be cause to worry (or celebrate)…yet. 

After all, we need to see what happens with the July core update. Now may be the time to wait it out and see what happens after the July update. 

Until then, there are some things you want to consider about your website…

Focus on Your Website’s Content

Be sure you’re providing the best content possible on your website. This is a good way to ensure you will weather the changes of future Google core updates. 

Google provides guides to help webmasters understand the type of content that gets noticed on the first page of search results. 

Here are a few questions you should ask about your website’s content:

• Is this original information, research, analysis, or reporting?
• Does the content provide insightful information and analysis that is beyond obvious?
• Is this the page you would want to bookmark, recommend, or share?
• Does the headline provide a helpful description of the content without exaggerating?
• Would you feel comfortable trusting this content as it relates to your life decisions?

While these may seem like obvious questions on the surface…a lot of web content is substandard. It may be copying from other sites, hastily put together, and, well, more of a waste of space than a resource. 

Beyond Content…

Google’s ranking factors also want websites to be mobile-friendly, more accessible to those with disabilities, and have layouts that improve a user’s experience. 

Of course, this can all be overwhelming for small to medium business owners that already have so much on their plate.  

Stop being anxious about core updates…get a little help.

Afflatus Media has helped several businesses weather core update changes and rank higher in search engines. 

In other words, bring FREE (organic) traffic to your site without relying on costly ad campaigns.
Let’s talk about how we can do this for your business. Send us a quick message now.