August Google Update: Three is The Magic Number
The Google updates just keep on coming! Google announced via Twitter on Wednesday that they are releasing another ‘broad core algorithm update’ this week. The confirmation comes after Webmasters around the world started to notice that some of their click-through rates and rankings had experienced noticeable shifts earlier this week. Just in case you missed Google’s tweet, here’s what they had to say in response to their March update AND the latest August update…
“This week we released a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. Our guidance about such updates remains the same as in March, as we covered here:”
‘Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. Some are focused around specific improvements. Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely several times per year…. (1/3)
As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded…. (2/3)
There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages. (3/3)’
This is the third Google update in 2018 after the two previous updates in March and April. The main aim of the update is to refine current algorithms in order to make search results better for users.
Timeline of 2018 Google Updates So Far…
- 9th March 2018: The first of the 2018 updates, although the details were light the general aim was to provide better search results which are more relevant to queries. If a site dropped, Google claimed that there was no way to quickly fix lost rankings, marketers simply needed to ensure that they remained focused on producing quality content.
- 16th April 2018: In April when the announcement was made, many SEO’s were concerned that Google would target low-quality pages, however, it was later realised that the update would again focus on refining the results listed in SERPs, clearing out any pages of content that didn’t quite meet the query intent.
- 1st August 2018: And finally, the most recent update!
Don’t Panic, We’re Here to Help!
If you’re concerned about what this means for your site and current rankings, don’t be alarmed as we’re here to help. Here at Netbiz, we offer free SEO audits for websites of all sizes and types to help you to identify any potential improvements that could be made to ensure that your business succeeds online. Our team of dedicated digital marketing gurus can carry out a full SEO audit which includes checking the quality of your onsite content, the quality of your offsite SEO, as well as flagging up any technical issues relating to functionality or performance – both on mobile devices and desktops.
If you’d like to arrange an audit or you’d like to find out more about SEO and how we can help you to grow your online presence, give us a call – a member of our team will be more than happy to help!
Other Recent Notable Google Updates
Google Speed Update
SSL Certificates & Google Chrome