As we’ve often discussed, Google regularly updates its search algorithms to offer the most relevant sites and content in the search results. Each update generally comes with different changes to different aspects of websites, so understanding each update is extremely important if you want to maintain your rankings, let alone improve them. On the 27th of September – Google’s 20th birthday – they released an algorithm update.
Google’s updates are either major or minor when it comes to their search algorithms, as we’ve mentioned in the past. What’s being called the Google Birthday up date – for obvious reasons – is quite a significant update, so you may have seen some changes in your rankings. It’s very rare for Google to have two major updates only weeks apart, but this is the case with the August broad core update and the Google Birthday update.
When the August broad core update occurred, little information was available so it was difficult knowing what move to make if rankings were affected. Some of our clients were affected by the August update, but by keeping a close eye on Google’s updated search guidelines, we were able to remedy this problem.
The Google Birthday update is similar to the August one, in that it is very broad, so pinpointing the exact factor that may have led to decreases in rankings is very difficult at this stage. With that said, here’s what you should know about the Google Birthday update.
It’s very likely that the Google Birthday update is related to the August broad core update in some way. Adjustments and reversals are quite common when it comes to updates, and they more often than not lead to increases or decreases in site rankings, so it could very well be the case that the Google Birthday update is an adjustment or reversal of the August update.
As it is a broad core update, figuring out what may have caused fluctuations in rankings is quite difficult at this stage. For this reason, we need to keep an eye on Google’s search guidelines, so we can continue to adopt the best SEO practices.
This more than likely won’t affect you, but it’s important to note that this was a key part of this update. Image rankings now factor in page authority a lot more than they have in the past, as well as how prominent the image is on the page. The design of image searching has also updated to better match the mobile version, which is a nice touch.
As mentioned earlier, these broad core updates are very difficult to understand in the early stages. As time goes on, we will have more information about how resolve decreases in rankings affected by the latest update.
It’s important to review your on-page structure, backlinks, content and user experience. Google is always trying to weed out poor practices and promote good ones. At the end of the day, it’s about providing the most relevant content with a great user experience.
For any information on SEO or questions regarding this update, feel free to give us a call on 1300 090 401.
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