This Week In SEO 86
Special Edition: A New Google Algorithm Update
Big SERP Shakeup
It’s been a damn interesting week.
How’s your organic traffic doing?
It looks like there’s been a very significant Google algorithm update that started rolling out around June 23rd.
Here’s a couple of questions you may be wondering about, and my answers:
Q: What is this? Panda? Penguin? Hummingbird? Pigeon?
A: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ You see, SEO moves slowly, in general, and it takes time to study the data, to see common site elements that trend down, others the trend up, and really put the pieces together.
Q: Should I panic?
A: No. Probably not. I’ve seen many situations where a site owner has done more damage by trying to disavow a ton of links, 301 redirect a ton of others, and just generally muck-up the site’s architecture trying to get some rankings back. It’s better to take action once you understand the situation better.
I’ve also seen sites that get knocked down by a penalty and, when the dust settles, rank slightly higher than they did after a week of poor rankings. The algorithm can take a while to roll out, and aftershocks can further change things around. So don’t panic!
Here’s some more info on this algorithm update.
Search Engine Land Covering the Possible Update
http://searchengineland.com/google-algorithm-update-rolling-since-june-25th-277942
Google technically did not confirm it, outside of John Mueller’s typical reply to any questions around an algorithm update. But based on the industry chatter that I track closely and the automated tracking tools from Mozcast, SERPMetrics, Algoroo, Advanced Web Rankings, Accuranker, RankRanger and SEMRush, among other tools, it seems there was a real Google algorithm update.
Rank Ranger’s Early Coverage of the 2017 June Update
https://www.rankranger.com/blog/google-algorithm-update-june-2017-explained
Despite the length of the current update, the initial chatter, per Barry Schwartz of SERoundtable, was quite light. This is obviously peculiar, not only in light of the length of the update, but the fluctuation levels themselves as well. The risk levels on our Rank Risk Index have risen above moderate, and show a continuous series of high fluctuation levels.
SERPWoo: A Bump in Volitility
https://www.serpwoo.com/stats/volatility/
SERPWoo tracks how much a particular niche fluctuates among the top 20, and then aggregates that data across several different verticals like mobile, desktop, search volume, etc.
You can definitely see a bump around the 23rd of June.
Oh Yeah, There Was a Sizable Update in May, Too
http://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/may-17-2017-google-algorithm-update/
Because two algorithm updates are better than one!
After digging into many drops, I saw the usual suspects when it comes to “quality updates”. For example, aggressive advertising, UX barriers, thin content mixed with UX barriers, frustrating user interface problems, deceptive ads, low quality content, and more.