Surviving Google Core Updates: The Ultimate Goal to Maintain your Ranking

Exploring Four Essential Tips to Enhance your Website: Not Just Surviving a Google core update but Thriving on Google Result Pages

Google is constantly making changes in its algorithms to enhance the websites on search result pages. These core updates help websites to maintain the top ranking on Google and establish their chances of getting clicked by more customers. But when a Google core update is released in the market, you will notice a decrease in your ranking and traffic, although your website is complying with all the previous Google core updates.

Many websites lose their rankings with one such recent update by Google, i.e., Core algorithm updates. Google has given advice on doing nothing on your website. If you do nothing on your website, then how will the ranking of your website be increased? This is the major question that is constantly impacting every website owner’s mind.

For this, Google says certain things that if your website has been impacted by a core update, then you “don’t have anything wrong to fix.”

Google also added,

“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.”

We think you are looking a bit confused with the above-stated statements. This query is almost striking to all marketers or website owners if nothing goes wrong with my website, why it is facing a drop in traffic and ranking?

Another question that attacks to mind is that if you cannot “fix” a core update, then why does your website witness rank and traffic loss?

A simple answer to all your questions is that your competitors are the least imperfect.

With this, you will understand that your competitors attain the top position on Google which used to be yours. This happens because your competitors implement best practices to optimize their websites. Due to this, they will receive better rankings on the search pages.

The above conversation starts a roller coaster in your mind how can you minimize imperfections and regain your rankings?

You can concentrate on the positive things to enhance the ranking of your website.

What are the ways to advance your website for future core updates?

There are mainly four ways to enhance your website even during the core updates.

• Make the website content better 

After evidencing a decrease in ranking and traffic, Google advises concentrating on your website’s content in order to improve your website. This has been evidenced in Google’s help file on algorithm updates.

“… we understand those who do less well after a core update change may still feel they need to do something. We suggest focusing on ensuring you’re offering the best content you can. That’s what our algorithms seek to reward.”

There are some questions considered by Google before reviewing the content written on your website.

1. Does your content reliable?
2. Does the content creator a subject matter expert or enthusiast?

All such makes your website better than your competitors in terms of quality as well as quantity.

• Validate your internal links

Your approach to internal linking has a significant impact on your website’s SEO, and it can bring about the following benefits:

1. Facilitate users in discovering relevant content on your website.
2. Convey to search engines the primary focus of your website.
3. Allow search engines to explore more pages on your website.
4. Distribute link equity from one webpage to another within your website.
5. Siloing is one way to connect internal pages, but there are other types of internal links that hold significance.

Validating internal links on your website is one of the best ways to improve the ranking of your website during core algorithm updates.

• Content organization on your website

In addition to content quality, organizing the content on your website is also an essential component to maintain your website’s rankings. When you organize the content on the basis of some category, then the navigation into your website becomes easier. This helps the search engines as well as the website visitors to search content as per their requirements and take the necessary information from your website.

SEO siloing helps in creating relevant content on your website. Due to this, the search engine clearly understands which website has been searched by the visitor. With this strategy, rich content has been organized on your website which is beneficial in a number of ways:

1. It improves your user experience as they will easily find and browse your content on the website.
2. It also facilitates search engines to identify content relevancy on the basis of keywords and rank accordingly on the search pages.

Google believes that siloing is a good strategy to organize content on your website and also stated:

“The navigation of a website is important in helping visitors quickly find the content they want. It can also help search engines understand what content the webmaster thinks is important. Although Google’s search results are provided at a page level, Google also likes to have a sense of what role a page plays in the bigger picture of the site.”

Siloing is an effective SEO strategy that when incorporated into SEO program, helps to create a quality website that can endure Google core updates in the future.

• Get an SEO audit 

SEO is the best strategy to beat your competition in search results. An SEO audit helps website owners to optimize their websites more than their competitors. This strategy is mainly focusing on website repair. There is a massive need for repair-based SEO audits to fix or repair websites.

But when you encounter a core update, repairing or fixing your website is not just enough to reach the top position on Google search pages. Due to this, there is a need for a more comprehensive SEO audit that ensures strong competition in the market and helps you to withstand any new core update.

Conclusion 

Core algorithm updates by Google not only help you to improve the quality of your website but also make your website informative. To become the least imperfect is the first and foremost thing that all website owners need to become in order to withstand core algorithm updates in the future. This will retain the ranking of your website and also boost traffic.