Google AlgoOnline Marketing
The Google Broad Core Algorithm is the third update of the algorithm released this year and for many is considered perhaps the most momentous update since the 2012 release of Google’s Penguin. Now that this core update is live and running, many websites have been affected, in particular, how these sites display and rank on Google search result pages.
Google advised the public, via Twitter, that they do these types of core updates multiple times a year. Although, not all of these releases are core algorithm updates, the effect of such has caused a significant performance concerns, as seen across numerous websites worldwide.
Of Course this means that SEO professionals are now discovering what changes should they expect and how best to counter these by adjusting their methods accordingly. Here is what everyone needs to be aware of and know about the new Google Broad Core Algorithm.
Take a look at what we know from Google so far
As previously mentioned, Google claims to conduct this type of core algorithm updates multiple times throughout the year.
Google references or quotes its advice from the previous core algorithm updates, advising that there is almost no ‘fix’ for web pages that might work as well, moreover to concentrate on creating quality content. Basically meaning that it is possible that your content may in fact outrank other relative pages.
Additionally, according to Google, with relation to any algorithm updates, some websites may notice increases or even decreases in ranking results. It is important to note, that there may not be anything wrong with these web pages that perform insufficiently. But rather, the revisions to Google’s algorithm is instead rewarding the previously under-rewarded pages.
This particular core algorithm release does however have a significant effect on many Google search results, regardless of region or language. Google though it seems is currently cautious about informing the exact percentage of the search results impacted by the Google Broad Core Algorithm to date. Leaving many SEO Agencies to find out and left to explain to customers the reasons for shifts in preciously high ranking results, this is likely to settle once agencies have isolated the issues caused from the current update and applied techniques to fix.
Who was Affected by this Update?
As advised by Google, this update of the Google Broad Core Algorithm is a global release and therefore affects every website and most likely most niches seem to have been, for the most part, affected.
Based on recent surveys of various SEO Agencies, the most recent update seems to be aimed at the health and medical niches predominantly. It also seems to have been focused on Your Money Your Life or YMYL websites also.
What is a “Your Money Your Life” Website?
Your Money Your Life websites are, for the most part, connected to Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). These sites contain pages that can affect the future health, safety, happiness, stability, or financial of users. Take note that YMYL is not an affirmation of quality. YMYL websites are designed to influence life, it is not aimed at whether that may be for better or for worse.
What You Can Do?
Well Google has provided a response to the many questions regarding the most recent update on Twitter. The update is to do nothing initially if your website is one of the unfortunate ones that gets penalized because there is no quick fix. We have collated some key pointers to keep in mind if your website is affected by this latest update.
Mobile First
Mobile first-indexing is required and is extremely vital for all businesses. Keeping that in mind, those websites that currently do not have a mobile version of their website will, receive a penalty and ranking will be significantly affected.
A number websites owners have been distressed about not ranking for their business or brand names, this is a direct result of failing to have a separate mobile site. It is now more important than ever to have a mobile-friendly, responsive website to take advantage of Google’s ranking under the mobile-first index of Google. This is most important also as the percentage of mobile device users are increasing to unprecedented levels worldwide.
It is also important to have clear, coherent content, whether it’s a call-to-action button or a H1 tag on your site. A quality developed responsive design will not hide your content and therefore, it assures that a website can present the same content to viewers, regardless the device used to view a website.
Content
As with many previous revisions and updates from Google, content remains king for SEO efforts on any website. This is now even more evident as Google has now advised and strongly suggested that a website’s content should have E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, and Trust) in mind when adding to its pages. While a guideline it is significantly applicable to any of the published YMYL websites on the internet.
Google is insisting that these sites should have content written by experienced writers or content experts. One of the reasons for this is that searching for health symptoms on Google can make people feel unreasonably paranoid. But when surveyed many viewers indicated that when they found a website that seemed to have authoritative and reliable content, they were more comfortable and trusting.
If you are curious how Google is able to identify content written by an experienced writer of not? While there are hardly any fixes for the new algorithm, it’s much more likely that bloggers will be able to link to other sites even more because they are able to use others opinions to strengthen the facts in their writing on their pages.
Speed
An often overlooked issue for many websites is the loading time and overall site speed, these however have long been a crucial ranking factor for SEO efforts. Simply put, it is essential for ranking a website and getting quality results. Previously, some websites may have ranked well despite of a slow loading time, but this is quickly not becoming the case today.
It is highly recommended that you monitor your site’s speed and loading times. There are a number of methods to improve the speed of your site, including but not limited to compressing images, browse caching, etc.. One of the best tools available is provided by Google for Free and can be ran on any page of your website to identify problems, we recommend using Google PageSpeed Insights to analyze site speed.
Takeaway
While Google did make a comprehensive core algorithm update that has affected the majority of webmasters and in turn many search results, on August 1, 2018. This update largely appears to have a the largest repercussion to the medical and health industry and to Your Money Your Life websites.
Overall, Google’s advice to everyone to improve their content and to focus on making it better. This goes in hand with improving websites to make them better for the overall user experience. We recommend gradually working on some changes to slowly improve your rankings and with the right changes you may even retain that previous ranking again. If you are unsure where to start, then feel free to contact he SEO Professionals at Web Design Davao, where they deliver what the others promise.
