What to do about Google's algo update
Happy Monday! Said no one ever 🤣. Last week I blogged about using Google My Business and how to transform the first page of Google's SERP (search engine results page) into a billboard for you and your brand. Since today marks Google's update to its core algorithm, we are going to discuss how we could/should handle the changes.
I know everyone wants to know what to do and we will start there first because it is going to be difficult. The answer is to do NOTHING. While the update has most likely already gone live it is prudent to allow for 7 to 10 days to pass to "see" what the update may have done to your SERP.
The focus of your website and especially your blog should be quality content. What is quality content? To me, it is a blog post that is greater than 2,500 words and actually provides useful information. Before I post a blog I always ask myself if this blog post at least answers one question. Ideally I would like for a blog post to answer several questions and provide actionable information. That is how I determine if my post is quality content.
Google will not penalize your site if your focus is on quality content. They continuously optimize the search engine algorithm to show the most relevant and useful information on the web. You know if your website is simply spamming and if it is, then you will have something to worry about.
A tip I find helpful. As someone who works in digital advertising/consulting for a living I often assume people have a higher technical knowledge level than is realistic. I also have a tendency to get into "the weeds" a bit too much. One way I avoid these pitfalls is to have several non-technical people read the blog posts before they are posted. Be open to feedback and implement changes that are useful and make your blog better. Being open to constructive feedback is difficult, especially if a lot of things have gone well for you in life. Always try to improve yourself and often times being receptive to feedback can expose things about you that may be in your blind.
We have covered focusing on quality content that has depth and length to it. Make sure these posts include internal links to other useful blog posts on your site as well as links to external sources that are extremely reputable and Google weighs highly. Share traffic with these external sites and you never know how they may express their gratitude. I love to see links to my site and I try to ensure that I link back to those sites. Nice to have such a clear-cut win win.
A few last thoughts on the latest Google Core update. These updates do not tend to focus on "niche" search strings. This update is broad in nature and that is to be kept in mind. Second, these broad updates often deal with relevance issues. Lastly, if your site starts to rank poorly try not to go at it like it is a problem to simply fix. Instead, look at sites that are ranking well and ask yourself why they would rank higher. Frame the question as more of a relevance issue. What makes this site more relevant than mine?
I hope this blog provides guidance and helps you navigate the perpetual evolution of the Google Search Algorithm. I'd love to hear from you. Shoot me an email or you can always reach out on Twitter.