Was that a Google Algo Update or an Earthquake?!? — Jordan Koene // Searchmetrics

Quotes

• “... typically this time of year, this kind of questioning, it looks like Google is starting to work on the release of, uh, their core update.”

• “Now when you're listening to this, it's quite possible that this release has already started, but I will tell you that right now, what we're seeing is a very common playbook from Google, which is let's do some testing on what we think are improvements to our algorithm. And let's make some adjustments and see if, how we feel about it. Go back, research the data before we start releasing this and making any public claims about that release.”

• “So we're definitely seeing something that's being tested or at least trying it out in a variety of different countries, uh, which is a good sign. And Google has said in the past, they're trying to make these changes more universally across markets. And then the other thing that we're seeing is that it's really hitting low quality thin content scenarios.”

• “... you should be preparing your organization with the information about Google updates and changes.”

• “So long as the short of it is that continuously updating and informing is an ongoing effort. It isn't just a, when Google makes statements about updates, it is an ongoing effort around how Google is changing in the market.”

• “... the best way to really understand what's happening in a Google update is to really understand what's happening in the market, what's happening in the landscape.”

• “What I'm hearing is that there's two strategies to implement here. One is make sure that you have a regular course of communication with all the constituents. And number two is when a change happens, you need to have the tools and the dashboard to be able to understand what impact it has had on your business.”

• “At the end of the day, there is no predicting a Google algorithm. Like there is no predicting an earthquake.”

• “So one of the things that you should definitely be mindful here of is what your response plan is in those first 48 hours… it is important to make changes to either quickly mobilize your engineering teams, deprecate content or assets that aren't useful on your site, and adjust the way you submit content in terms of your site maps.”

• May 31, 2021