Has this been figured out?

That should be in your SEO settings in your back office. You would want to check how you have that set.

Hope this is helpful.

Stacie

Hey Camilla,

This, in reality, is a TEST!!!

Okay, there's more to it than that, but IN LIFE (not just blogging), when people feel they are greeted with complete adversity they tend to give up.

We could obviously just give up on everything, as soon as everything bad happens in life, but these will also be the types of people who will have grave regrets on their deathbed.

You NEVER know what's going to happen unless you TRY.

Okay, I've been hit by various Google updates over the years, and often I don't actually feel it was just (especially when you see some the sites that have "taken over" your rankings).

However, the aim is to work out exactly what has happened, and then set about fixing it.

Changes typically happen at Google CORE update time, so for many people who've been hit by the current wave of updates, you may still need to WORK HARD EVERY DAY WITHOUT seeing anything happen until either December 2022, February 2023, or May 2023.

Then again, it could be longer.

I have had a website that plateaued in traffic for 11 months, I still added over 300 articles during that time WITHOUT any increases in traffic (how many people would given up?), and eventually the good things happened on that site and traffic went through the roof the following year.

Another one of my sites has been recently hit by TWO of the Google updates, namely Helpful Content and Spam.

This has accounted for 90,000 visitors LOST PER MONTH and $7,000 income LOST PER MONTH?

Do you honestly think I'm going to give up?

Nope, I am currently amending over 640 articles.

Success in life is about HOW MUCH YOU WANT IT!!

Okay, I have written about how to complete a site audit recently, be warned this is LONG (But, then again, this also depends on HOW MUCH YOU WANT IT) I Would Charge You $1000 For Doing This - Here’s How to Do it For FREE (Basic Site Audit) As for the spam update, even though this year Google hasn't specifically mentioned it as they did in November 2021, I feel the spam update is link-related.

So, I am going through over 600 articles and making my links, external and internal, more HUMAN FRIENDLY.

So, no more exact anchor text on EVERYTHING.

Exact anchor text simply means that your linking text is the EXACT keyword of the article you're linking to.

So, if my keyword is

"How to Make Money Online!

All my links were previously just the words

"How to Make Money Online".

In order to make them more "human-friendly", many of them now look like:

This is a subject I have spoken about before and you can discover exactly what I have to say about how to make money online.

This time the words that are used as anchor text are:

"discover exactly what I have to say about how to make money online"

Realistically, you only want around 5-10% of the links in your articles to use the EXACT WORDS (KEYWORD) of the article that you're linking too.

Additionally, you'll also want to check your backlinks.

If you go to Google Search Console and click LINKS on the left-hand side, this will provide you details of all the websites linking to you.

You will need to check each of these individually.

Go to each website, look at them.

What is the content like?

How many links are there per article?

Does the content make sense?

Does the content appear to be helpful?

Does the content come across as spammy?

You wil eventally have to DISAVOW Spammy baklinks.

Here's what Google says abpout this

https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2648487?hl=en

And here's a guide from semrush

https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-to-disavow/

Additionally, there are people on Fiverr who offer this service and will complete the disavow file for you for around $40-$50 (I have paid someone to this for me, so I'm happy to share their details).

Then all you have to do is upload this file via Google Search Console.

Camilia, getting hit by an update, and then trying to fix things is HARD WORK.

Plus, I'm not going to lie to you, I have previously been hit by an update, then I did NOTHING, and 6 months later my traffic came back (and I left the website alone for 6 months).

So, clearly there's no right or wrong way to deal with this.

But, for me, I would rather work out exactly what's gone wrong and then try to fix it.

Once more, this all comes down to HOW MUCH YOU WANT IT.

What I will say is this:

What happens if you give up, start another website, get good traffic and income, and then THIS HAPPENS AGAIN?

Will you give up again?

Will you spend every two years giving up on a website with nothing to ever show 10 years down the line?

Don't get me wrong, a website can die completely never to return, this is most noticeable if your traffic SLOWLY DECLINES month-after-month.

MASSIVE DROPS IN TRAFFIC usually mean there isn't anything inherently wrong, plus Google is still trying to work out their algorithms.

But, QUITE OFTEN, these massive drops will come back and even better.

The problem being is that most people give up within a few months of a MASSVIE DROP in traffic, so they never know what's just around the corner.

Partha

Nothing worse than getting smacked around by Google. But Partha’s comments ring true.. How much do you want this. Don’t give up, keep pushing forward. One setback doesn’t change your goal..

So sorry to know this happened to you.
However, you have been given lots of good tips and encouragement here.
Don't give in to the enemies; you will overcome this and one day offer advise to someone else.
keep going....,
Blessings on your journey.
Melanie

Don't give up.
My site was hit as well but I'm taking steps to fix it.
I worked 2 hard to throw it all away and I'm very sure you did as well.
I understand that you are frustrated and feel devastated, However, take a break and come back to the site when you feel more able that is what I have done.
You only lose if you give up and I know you are stronger than that my friend :-)

Hi, Camilla

I agree with everything that was said by others below, especially Partha.

In addition you might want to check “manual actions” and “security issues” in GSC.

If you have the time, write double the amount of content you were writing before, for at least three months.

Frank

Just a thought Camilla, you grow through what you go through! Keep going.
All the best!

Never give up Camila there will be some sites where there is nothing wrong with them and at times Google updates can affect them.

If you have done nothing wrong like copying and pasting other people work then just continue to writing informative and helpful content for your readers

just continue to write content and help your readers with what they are asking for.

Andre

The same thing happened to me, I'm gutted. But don't give up. It's just one of those dips on the road to your success. We all get them.
Take the long view, this is a journey.

Totally understand.

Lily

Never, ever give up, Camilla! :-)

Mel

No negative.

https://developers.google.com/search/updates/spam-updates

The company is very interested in getting people to promote their product. Not only do they want you to write a post but they want you to give them a so follow ink back to their site. That is asking a lot on your part and they get all of the benefit.

Like your other commenters here, I would not do it. Google does not recommend it. I would follow Googles rules.

The correct answer is to follow Google's rules, unless you think you can trick Google, and how long you can trick them. Is the $100 or whatever these guys are offering you for a sponsored post that breaks Google's rules worth the potential of permanent damage to your site's reputation in search results? My opinion is no.

Many people get away with it. There are plenty of examples of sites that cheat the rules or bend the rules and are totally fine for years, but you'll be upset at yourself if your site is penalized some time down the road.

Hi - yes, you are correct to be concerned about this. Google frowns upon this practice of acquiring paid backlinks. Both websites may be penalized.

I'd follow resource here, which simply advises a no- follow vs a yes.

https://cultofweb.com/blog/sponsored-posts-nofollow-links/

I'm experiencing the same issue, would like to know how to resolve this matter as well.

I would drill down on your site speed report . It could be a few things. Uncompressed images or broken links etc. But smush ( I think) is a good plug in to overcome a lot of problems. But Abbies advice is sound and take up the offer of Richard, he is a wizard of Wordpress.
Stephen

Chose chromebook

Hi Camilla
I have 25 plugins installed and my load speed is fine. It’s not the number of plugins that counts so much as which ones are installed.

Also, are you looking at the detail in Pagespeed Insights? If not you probably need to.

Send me a PM if you wish.
:-)
Richard

Hi

You may review below resource How to improve your site speed on mobile devices