Hey, has there’s been a noticeable shift to your website’s traffic, but you can’t figure out why? Well, you’re not alone. Every year, Google makes considerable updates to their searching algorithms/SERP’s to help make it more useful to their users – and this year, too was no different. In fact, this year’s Google Algorithm Updates are already here. They’re called the broad core algorithm update, and it first hit us in January.
For every SEO user, this can be a stressful time, as even a tiny change can have far-reaching keywords on the SERP’s. Besides, what’s even more annoying can be the sudden, unexplained traffic fluctuations.
Well, don’t worry. We are here to help you.
So, in today’s roundup, we are going to be taking a more in-depth look into this year’s updates, their changes, features, and of course, their history.
So without any further ado;
Let get started!
Google Algorithm Updates – What Are They Exactly?
For those who don’t know, a Broad Core update is a larger algorithm update that can massively impact the search visibility of a large number of websites in a single go.
Every time an update rolled out, Google redefines its “SERP” strategy for ranking sites based on the expertise, authoritativeness, security, etc.
- To better know what these updates are all about, here’re a few quick notes about what makes them so different from other updates;
- Unlike the daily core updates, the broad core updates can have a longer, more monumental impact over the SEO and SERP’s
- Large fluctuations in ranking positions, especially for search queries, can be observed almost immediately world over.
- These updates often improve the quality and accuracy of contextual search queries.
- They generally don’t offer any fixes for the sites that may have had detrimentally affected by the previous updates.
- These updates are often designed to focus more on Expertise, Authority, and, of course, Trustworthy tools.
- They work to improve content quality.
Sure, while the above points can give you a fair idea as to what to expect from Google Algorithm Updates, the reality is much more complex.
Breaking it down for the New Year, read on to know more about the latest Google algorithm updates 2020, their changes, & what to expect next.
Read on…
Google Algorithm History – Lets Breakdown The Google Algorithm Update Timeline
On the 13th of January 2020, Google announced details about its much expected first broad core algorithm. And over the next few days, the update rolled out globally to their data centers, completing the update.
Despite being a significant update, this isn’t the first broad core update Google had pushed over the years. After snubbing their normal naming scheme back in 2018, which in our opinion was a bad move considering how clever& fun the update names were before, i.e., Maccabees, Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pigeon, RankBrain, Possum, Fred Update, etc…
Google shifted to their now infamous Broad core updates. The next year 2019 saw four core updates, all of which were officially introduced through their own channels. In fact, the BERT update, too, was announced through these channels, even though it was a lot different from a core update, as it dealt with how Google understands search queries, especially contextual data.
Anyway, they’re all in the past right now. And while some of them were huge enough to give webmasters a panic attack, the worlds, as well as all the other online businesses, have long adjusted to them and their impacts – Or so it seemed…
Now, the status quo is (finally!) again changing with the latest Google algorithm updates for the brand new year of 2020.
Latest Google Algorithm Updates – Breaking Down The Latest January 2020 Update!
While it’s still early days to comment on the January 2020 broad core Google Algorithm Updates and their effects, there is still a lot to all about them, especially regarding the massive ranking fluctuations it brought forth.
To be fair to Google, January marked the beginning of the corona pandemic, which meant that it was almost impossible for them to predict how the new Google Algorithm Updates are going to pan out. Still, a lot of turbulence was there, with many reporting large spikes and drops in traffic rates, especially in the health sector and dictionary sites.
Obviously, the following days marked a ton of subsequent maintenance Google Algorithm Updates. With the prominent one being the update that changed the SERP layout and Favicons, giving the latter a more integral placement and placing (surprisingly) the breadcrumbs – not the URL – above the Meta descriptions.
Ironically, though, this particular revamp – after a severe blowback from the SEO community – was repealed later that month itself. Now till today, Google is experimenting with different layout changes trying to find the right one.
Yes, more changes are on the way…
While we are quite sure Google has made a ton of revisions under the hood, most of which are still yet to be unearthed. So, the Google Algorithm Updates for 2020 – at this moment –is still all about SERP’s layout changes, Favicons, Snippet results, E.A.T, etc…
Of course, we’ll be updating this article as more and more of Google surprising changes come to the frontlines (as they usually do).
The Unannounced February Update – A Big Surprise, Really!
Okay, Google does conduct thousands of algorithm tweaks every year. However, the first week of February saw an update – through Google denied the existence of the same – that was as hugely significant as broad core update!
Again, it’s still early days. But gauging the primary results at a glance, it’s easy to see that even though it was not a core update (again, Google was pretty clear on that), it was still quite large enough to have a strong reaction, with major traffic “fluctuations” being reported all over the globe, and not to mention all the Ranking changes.
In any case, the majority of the impact this unannounced update had on the web is yet to be determined. And we still don’t know if this update is the first of many to follow. If that’s the case, we are in for one heck of a year.
On our part, we’ll be keeping a closer eye on this uninvited update and will b keeping you updated on the changes it may bring. So yeah, make sure to come back and visit this webpage for more updates on this mystery February Update
Google Algorithm Changes – A Few (Not So) Final Words
We are only 4 months into the year 2020, and already we had two huge updates (though, technically it’s one) that are poised to have long-term impacts on SERPs and SEO. With more Google Algorithm Updates, including broad core ones expected to land before the year ends, being prepared is very important.
Most of the changes that these updates tend to bring are implemented overnight, which means that they can be a hard nut to crack. However, the first thing you need to do is not panic. Sure, the sudden traffic dips can be scary. But as long as you keep a steady head, Google Algorithm Updates are nothing to be scared of, let alone fret about.
Focus on the quality of content. Guidelines for webmasters are a good place to start. In any case, avoid knee-jerk reactions as these can do more harm than good. Remember: Google brings all these updates to improve the searching experience.
In other words, the best you can do is go with the tide and better adapt yourself, and not try swimming against it.
Trust us – we’re speaking here from experience!