Let’s assume that you’ve invested in SEO for your website and you’re appearing highly on Google search results. In this case leads or sales brought in from Google are likely a key part of your business structure – the internet seems to abuzz with the latest Google algorithm update, but what could that mean for your rankings and your business?
Google has always been notoriously secretive about the algorithms that drive search engine rankings across their many platforms, but with a new update rollout having occurred on December 3rd, what could that mean for my website and leads? While many firms may be scrambling due to a change in strategy or methodology, we’ve been working with Google’s algorithms for years and can anticipate and extrapolate based on our past experience.
Google is always updating the algorithms that drive their platforms, but the thing that sets this update apart is that it is a core update – that means large portions of the codebase, database, and variables that Google uses to rank website relevancy are going to change. In previous years we’ve seen updates like Google BERT which focus on spoken word questions through phone assistants – on average there are 3 to 4 core updates annually, but it’s safe to assume the COVID delays have slowed the development of this recent one.
Simply put, updates serve multiple purposes – they may achievable multiple goals at once such as improving local search or changing search term methodology. Oftentimes, however, they are designed to address exploits that may exist. SEO companies usually fall into two camps: white hat SEO where traffic is won through authentically engaging content and carefully considered meta data, and black hat SEO where web marketers act more like hackers to exploit the weaknesses in Google’s systems. Since we rely on authentic and genuine content in conjunction with tried and trued methodology, we’re not concerned about any aspects of our techniques resulting in ranking losses like some firms that rely on black hat approaches. This is something we saw in the last update back on May 4th. At the time, many websites experienced a bump down in rankings while we actually enjoyed all-time highs for our clients.
Ultimately, Google has posted some advice for those looking to understand how rankings will be evaluated in the new update, however, it’s not new advice for those of us that have been reading Google’s guides and listening to their weekly roundtable. Content will be, and always has been, based on a website’s authoritativeness and true expertise on a subject – something we focus on closely in our content development strategy.
Oftentimes when a new core update is rolled out there is an immediate period of turbulence. This means slightly more volatile traffic and results than usual, ranging anywhere from one day to one week. That said, it’s not uncommon for Google to have already rolled out an update far before the announcement of a core update – this means that the newest version may have already been running as the dominant script on Google’s servers for months with no public indication. At the end of the day, those who have the most to be concerned about are firms that rely on dirty tactics to get their clients to the first page of Google. We anticipate our websites will flourish in the new ecosystem as unnecessary metrics and exploits continue to fall to the wayside in favor of more valuable content.
If you have an existing SEO team, ask them for an update of how you are performing. If you are seeing shifts in traffic, understand why and how to reset your SEO process. If you don’t have an SEO team, we welcome the opportunity to review your status and assist in establishing best practices using our tried and true SEO2Sales procedures to provide you with a better structure around your search engine presence going forward. Contact Us HERE.
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