If you suddenly find your website is no longer ranking as well as it used to be, despite your hard work, it’s likely to be because of a recent Google SEO Update. Sometimes when this happens it can be jarring, you don’t know what caused this and you can start panicking, especially if you’ve done a lot of hard work to improve the ranking over time.
So let’s look into Google algorithm updates and what you can do about them!
Why Are There So Many Google Algorithm Updates?
One of the reason’s Google is so successful is because its aim is always user focused. It’s trying very hard to constantly improve to make sure its users enjoy using their website and can find what they need as quickly as possible.
Due to this, they often make updates to the heart of their search engine’s algorithm. As this is what automatically finds users answers to their queries online. Some of these updates are miniscule and no one notices them, and some of these updates are massive and can disrupt businesses and their rankings in a big way.
Each year Google updates its algorithm with a few large updates and over a hundred smaller updates. So, it can be very hard to keep track of these changes, what they are affecting and what needs to be improved to adhere to these updates. In addition, not all updates are disclosed by Google and even when they are disclosed Google doesn’t do it in any detail, so only the best SEO marketers can figure out what the update is and what it’s affecting.
Here’s What You Can Do After an Update:
If you hear of, or if you suspect a Google algorithm update, there are a few immediate things you can do to give yourself peace of mind after the shakeup.
Find Out If Your Rankings Are Affected
There are so many tools out there to take a look at your website’s SEO performance, but you can also use Google’s free tools as well. Either way, if you do see something has changed, you can start working towards a targeted solution instead of guessing. Remember, there’s only so much you can do without professional tools and insight, but this is a great way to get started while you look for an SEO Agency to help out.
See What the Experts Say
As we mentioned above, Google just doesn’t like to tell you what they’re doing when they change their algorithm, and this leaves experts to decipher the updates. They often tell this information to the general public in blogs so keep an eye out!
See If You Should Make Changes
It can be very difficult to pinpoint exactly what it is that has to be changed to adhere to the new algorithm changes, but in general there are a few categories your SEO breaks down into and these are: technical challenges, outdated/ uninformative content, poor user experience, reduced authority, and industry specific issues.
Again, this is one of the places you’d want the experts to weigh in on, as you can accidentally change something that was actually performing in your favour.
Need Professional Insight?
Keeping an eye on Google algorithm updates is the last thing you want to be doing while you’re busy running a business. This is why you should work with an SEO agency that keeps track of these changes for you. In our opinion, no one is better for this than Perfect Link Building. Perfect Link Building’s packages include research and development, so you know they’re on top of the algorithm all the time!
