First, let’s review how Google has structured some of its largest algorithm updates over the last few years. Rather than targeting specific negative actions like building a bunch of spammy links or creating lots of pages with little valuable content, these broad core updates seek to improve the rankings for pages that offer strong content, authority, and user experience.
Broad core updates are just larger versions of the daily algorithm tweaks that happen without much fanfare. Google releases thousands of changes to its algorithm each year. Google only announces the updates that it feels change performance significantly, like the broad core updates.
Google releases these larger broad core updates three to four times a year, ostensibly on a quarterly cadence. In 2021 there were three, but so far in 2022, we’ve only seen one. The last two years’ worth of Broad Core Updates were released in:
First, let’s look at Google’s take on what to do if your site has been negatively impacted by a broad core algorithm update:
“We know those with sites that experience drops will be looking for a fix, and we want to ensure they don’t try to fix the wrong things. Moreover, there might not be anything to fix at all. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may perform less well in a core update. They haven’t violated our webmaster guidelines nor been subjected to a manual or algorithmic action, as can happen to pages that do violate those guidelines. In fact, there’s nothing in a core update that targets specific pages or sites. Instead, the changes are about improving how our systems assess content overall. These changes may cause some pages that were previously under-rewarded to do better.” — Google Search Central Blog
Honestly, that’s a very frustrating statement for sites that rely on organic search traffic to sell products or drive ad revenue. However, it is the reality of the Internet age that Google giveth and Google taketh away.
Search engines, however, have to work in a more regimented, colder way. Try to assume the mindset of the search engine and the information it has to work from.
Let’s take depth of content, for example. Google’s measurements draw information from pages from all over the internet to determine what needs to be included to be considered “complete” information. Accuracy of content can only be determined algorithmically by consensus of opinion among sources that are considered authoritative — again, algorithmically. Authority is computed algorithmically in part using links and mentions in other authoritative sources, much like you would cite an authoritative source in a report.
Google’s broad core updates can feel like a punishment when your site has been negatively impacted. Rather than shaking your fist at Google, though, try to think more objectively about your site and the ways that other sites might appear better to Google. Emulating and improving upon the strategies that those sites employ is the answer to regaining your share of organic search results.
Jill Kocher Brown
This content was originally published here.