Google Search Engine Update Ranked Me Down

byownonlboss

2.2K followers

6 years ago

Not so long ago somewhere in the beginning of August there has been a Google Search Engine Update that has caused a lot of sites to gain or drop in rank in the search engines. My belief on this is though that those ranks will normalize themselves over some time.

What are Google Search Engine Updates?

Google updates their search engine in two ways. There are algorithm updates and Google Core Algorithm updates. The algorithm updates are minor changes to the way stuff is going to be ranked and selected for a search user. These updates happen more often than the core updates.

Google core updates are about the entire search engine code. It is the entire search engine and functionality. It usually introduces new criteria for ranking or to be found in a search engine search. Google Core Updates also changes the code, makes it better for people and search engine. I see them as firmware.

Both types of updates do some minor or major changes to people's sites rankings.

Are Google Core Updates Necessary?

That is a good question. Google will say, they are, while you might feel that you didn't need that drop in ranking.

The thing is that the Google Search engine has never been and still won't be about sites and rankings but rather about people trying to find what they are looking for. People need to be served and get the content presented that they need.

Google needs to keep updating and renewing their product so that people will keep using their engine.

A Shift In The Way We Get Search Results

Where Google previously used keywords, meta tags and some form of content scan to rank you, nowadays Google uses semantic data linking. Google collects an enormous amount of data of you surfing, searching, using devices and using other websites and stores.

Because of that data in that big database, nowadays Google is able to link your surfing behaviour, your buying behaviour and your device data together with what you are searching for (all your interests are also in the database). This makes it easier to provide you a personalized search result with what interests you and only you.

This is also a reason why it is hard to figure out what your rank is going to be in a search engine, because the experience of searching online is more and more, a more personalized experience. Not two searches are going to present the same search results. The closest you can get to get a more true ranking is through the use of Incognito browsing, but even that is an incorrect image of what your neighbour or your uncle is going to get on their search results.

So in short, Google Core Updates and Google Algorithm updates will improve the search results for those searching content.

We cannot do much about these changes, other than keep doing what we do best - writing quality content for our user base. The better we are at writing for our audience or niche, the more of a chance that our page will show up on Google search results for your potential new audience or customer!

It is great to do SEO and keyword and optimization, but the audience is still the number one factor we are in the Affiliate Business. Search engines or crawling bots are certainly not going to buy your product or click on your affiliate links. Even if the search bot follows your link to Amazon (for example), the bot isn't going to place an order.

It is really only your userbase, your audience that will possibly be interested in buying something through your affiliate links.

"My Ranks Dropped And Didn't Restore"

Now this is not something you can say already today, because we are just about a week in to this month. It might really take a bit longer than just a week to restore. Let's say, look in 1-2 months again whether the ranks have restored themselves or not. In these two months you should not stop producing content, just keep going at it.

By the time we are there and you still got dropped in rank, perhaps it is time to look at your own pages. It might even now be a good idea to go over your existing content and check for the following items. Here are some tips you could look at:

• Got the known places for keyword placement in order? (title, meta title, meta description, first paragraph, image ALT, page link).
• Added the extra stuff? (related video, internal links, external authorized link)
• Got an article that is really meant for your audience, something they are looking for?
• Used styling to style your article for easier reading?
• Got a captivating title? (If you change this, make sure you don't change your permalink)
• Made a Call To Action on every Page/Post? (CTA) - even asking your audience to leave a comment is a CTA!
• Are you linking from other articles to this article, with keyword included in text?
• Is the content still up-to-date? Google ranks up-to-date and new pages higher than the old content. Never remove content from your pages, unless the information is absolutely incorrect, always add to add more value to your pages.
• Got comments / engagement on your article? Can always get some more through either SiteContent or by asking friends, family or social media.

What About My (Steven's Ranks)?

I went down in rank on some of my (before) ranked posts. I immediately saw a drop in traffic and engagement. Luckily I had recently boosted my Facebook page likes, so now I got another 1000+ fans that I can engage with and pull towards my site. There are still pages ranked 1-1, so I didn't lose them all and I am pretty sure that when I apply above points and with time my ranks will restore and perhaps even improve. Things will normalize and the site with thrive.

Wonder What I Am Talking About Here?

Are you wondering what it all meant that I was talking about concerning how to improve ranks or create your own website or online business?

When you start your free trial here at Wealthy Affiliate, you will be able to experience this all first hand. I will be your coach and help you create your very own online business.

You get an awesome 10-lesson free course and access to live chat in the first 7 days. Continueing your lessons will cost you some money, but it is a worthy investment into your future.

People are truly making money online with their website about their passion and applying all that you can learn here at Wealthy Affiliate. You should give it a try if you haven't already.

Signing up is very easy, no credit card is required. I will be waiting for you!

So what are you waiting for? Check my profile out!

- Steven