Google released yet another core update to their algorithm last month and marketers are still reeling from all the changes it brought and the volatility it created in their search traffic. Let’s take a look at this brave new world Google has brought us … again.
Table of Contents
In the Beginning
The most traffic volatility and the biggest changes in traffic and search results are always experienced right after the Google algorithm update goes into effect, so let’s start by taking a look at what happened in the first couple weeks after Google finished rolling out it’s new algorithm.
Traffic Volatility
Even brands that are well established and well respected in the world of SEO and digital marketing, such as SEMrush, experienced extreme drops in their traffic, followed by large spikes, only for the pattern to repeat itself.
It’s common for websites to see some fluctuation in their traffic following a Google algorithm update, but the amount of volatility experienced last month was significantly more than we usually see, even after a core update.
The problem with so much volatility in website traffic is that it makes it hard to know what’s working and what isn’t. If you were in the middle of A/B testing a digital marketing campaign, you would have no way of knowing whether a change in traffic was a result of changing a variable or just Google updating their algorithm.
Who Won the Update … at First?
Once the update was complete (it took about 2 weeks to finish rolling out), many people noticed that the top rankings for all kinds of search terms were dominated by big brands like Pinterest, Reddit, Amazon, and Etsy.
Despite the fact that Google’s algorithm had previously focused on content, many of the top results initially seemed to prioritize images with little or no content over pages with high-quality content.
In particular, search results seem to suggest that Google associates Etsy with “handmade”. Conduct a search for just about anything, and if you include “handmade” in the search term, Google will most likely show you images from Etsy before it shows you anything else.
Is This Really What Google Users Want?
At the end of the day, Google is a business like any other that’s just trying to serve its customers in the best way possible, but is this what searchers want? Do a bunch of pictures from Pinterest and Amazon serve their needs regardless of what search terms they’re using?
The true culprit might not be Google’s latest core algorithm update. Instead, COVID-19 might be to blame.
We’ve mentioned before on this blog the fact that Amazon and social media sites have their own search engines. If you want to find something on a particular website, you can just go to that website and use their search bar to find what you need, which begs the question, how does it benefit Google users to show them content from a website they could have visited and searched themselves? If they wanted content from that website, wouldn’t they have just gone straight to that website to get what they want?
On the other hand, sites like Amazon and Etsy have both experienced an upward trend in overall website traffic, as well as searches conducted on their sites since the pandemic started and people have been forced to stay at home more than ever before. Many people are now relying on sites like Amazon and Etsy to deliver goods to their door that they can no longer go to a store to buy in person. Etsy also allows consumers to support small businesses, which is another trend we have seen since the pandemic started and many small businesses had to shut their doors, either partially or entirely.
Supporting the theory that the new Google algorithm core update is really just a case of the tail wagging the dog is the fact that gyms have seen a significant drop in their search rangings, as well as their website traffic. Whether the latter is a result of the former, or a result of the fact that people aren’t searching for gyms they can’t workout in yet is unclear.
After the Dust Cleared
Now that it’s been a little over a month since Google’s latest core algorithm update finished rolling out, website traffic visits and search results have had some time to even out and we have more data to work with. So let’s take a look at the final results of this thing.
High-Quality Content Is Winning
This has been a trend for a while now – sites with more content, higher-quality content, and more in-depth content, tend to be viewed by both Google and consumers as being more valuable. If you want to attract, engage, and convert your target audience online, you need to have lots of high-quality content that is relevant to the search terms they’re putting into Google.
Are Backlinks Dead?
Backlinks have been a cornerstone of search engine marketing for years now, but some debate has recently popped up amongst SEO experts regarding whether backlinks still deserve the exalted position they have traditionally enjoyed in the world of SEO. The most recent Google algorithm core update, which prioritizes high-quality content over external factors like backlinks, seems to support the position that backlinks are no longer worth as much as they used to be.
This also means that trying to boost the organic rankings of one page on your site by linking to it on other pages might backfire. Some websites that do this found that the linking pages outranked the landing pages, even if the content was stronger on the landing pages.
Local Search
Everything from the last section goes out the window when it comes to local search because links have turned out to be a huge influencer in that area. Even low-quality sites with a lot of backlinks have been doing very well in the wake of the new Google algorithm core update.
This actually makes sense, given the fact that, when people are looking for recommendations for products or services in their area, they want to go straight to a source that will tell them what’s worth checking out and what’s not.
When it comes to backlinks, industries with high-cost leads, such as attorneys and financial planners, saw a significant uptick in search results for sites with a lot of backlinks. For example, sites that rate local lawyers now perform very well in Google’s search rankings.
The problem with that is law firms are ranking high for searches in areas where they are not located. That can’t be beneficial for consumers, but presumably Google sees something of value in these aggregator sites in order to give them the high ranking they are currently enjoying. Whether they will continue to enjoy this boost or be usurped has yet to be seen.
According to Roger Montti over at Search Engine Journal, the answer for law firms might be to think outside the box and try some content strategies that their competitors haven’t tried yet. Like, I don’t know, actually talking about issues that relate to them in a way they can understand.
SERP Features
SERP Features are boxes that show up on the first page of Google where you get to showcase a bit of your content. For example, if you have a checklist of things people should consider to protect their finances when getting divorced, that’s something Google will value and potentially feature in a snippet that appears on the first page of results for certain search terms.
These are a great way to improve your rankings, but recent data shows that the latest Google algorithm core update has thrown this particular SEO strategy into chaos, so if your website is experiencing traffic volatility, your SERP Feature might be something to consider analyzing.
Conclusion
What does this mean for your SEO strategy? If you’re in an industry with high-cost leads, such as financial planning, or the law, it might make sense to try to get a good rating on a site that ranks firms in your industry, since those sites will likely appear in searches before yours.
But that’s not to say you shouldn’t invest in the content on your own website. Remember that getting people to your website is only half the battle. Once they’re there, you need to convert them into customers and you need great content in order to do that.
Consistently producing high-quality content that speaks to your target audience’s pain points is not just necessary for your website’s ability to convert leads into customers. It also confers value onto your website, which will help it weather future core algorithm updates as Google gets better and better at identifying what its users really want and how to connect them with what they want.
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