Has Your Website Been Affected By A Google Algorithm Update?

Do you hate those pesky restarts your computer serves you first thing in the morning? They’re inconvenient and a little disruptive to your day, but the aim is to keep your device humming properly. The same idea applies to SEO and Google algorithm updates.

Google performs large “Core” updates on its platform a few times yearly to target spam, optimize algorithms, and ensure helpful content is highly ranked. While well-intentioned and important, it can shuffle results and leave teams scrambling for a fix.

How can you tell if your website survived a round of updates unscathed? We’ve got a checklist to help you determine an algorithm update’s impact on organic traffic and what to consider in your SEO strategy if it has.

What is a Core Update?

Google updates its algorithm around the clock to improve organic search results, which is why SEO is never a one-and-done thing. However, big updates like the core or spam updates create more noticeable changes. These updates can cause major fluctuations in rankings in the search landscape, which is the ire of SEO professionals.

A spam update is obvious and targets spam cluttering up the search space. Core updates look to improve the LLMs and other wizardry behind the algorithm to improve search results. The changes are broad and don’t target specific websites or pages, but Google is usually light on the details. Most core algorithm updates are at the page level, not the site level,  but past exceptions include the Panda or Helpful Content updates. Google will specify this type of update in their announcement. 

Core updates aim to improve Google’s E-E-A-T framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), which prioritizes helpful and reliable content.

What do real SEOs say? OuterBox’s Colin Gacek, SEO Essentials Strategist, says, “I tell my clients that, more often than not, we will experience a yo-yo effect: things shift around but then level off a few weeks after the update. Monitor, assess the positive or negative impact, and adjust the strategy accordingly”. 

So, how do you know if one of these updates happened?

Check Your Analytics

If an algorithm update occurred around the fluctuation or change in question, ask yourself, “Have the rankings dropped from relevant queries?”.

Relevant or meaningful queries are a key point. You want to focus your effort and budget on the search landscapes that will bring your business value. If you drop in rankings for a page that never brought in leads, it’s not a high priority to fix ASAP.

To determine if rankings have dropped from relevant queries, we recommend starting in GA4 and reviewing organic traffic trends using a date range that includes a few weeks before and after the update to identify dips or increases. Again, ensure you understand all circumstances related to your data time frame, such as marketing events, weekends and holidays, or economic changes.

View in GA4 > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.

Looking at the side menu, go to Acquisition, then Traffic Acquisition. Next, customize the date range using the compare feature to see changes in organic traffic. Are the drops sitewide, or can they be drilled down to a specific page or two? To determine this, compare a date range.

View in GA4> Reports > Engagement > Landing Page.

Looking at Engagement, then Landing Page, customize the date range using the compare feature to see changes in organic traffic. There’s a search bar above the landing page listing to search for specific pages.

Generally, if your website is affected by an update, you will likely see a traffic decrease due to rankings loss. You can get a better idea of where you rank in the full version of Google Search Console.  

Have the rankings dropped for relevant queries? If the answer is no, then don’t do anything. Your SEO strategy is focused on user intent, which is precisely what these updates look to boost.

If the answer is yes, don’t panic. This doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t providing helpful content. Let’s dig deeper and see what’s up.

Looking at the Source–Google

If you see a negative trend in your data after an algorithm update, it doesn’t necessarily mean your website was penalized. It may be because previously under-recognized websites may be rising in the ranks. To determine this, go straight to the source. 

Do some sleuthing via searches to review the search landscape yourself. Make notes on what’s changed and who ranks above you. What are they doing differently? You can also utilize AI tools like ChatGPT to compare pages for you. Plug in the top-ranking competitors into the tool and prompt it to identify common themes and trends in their content. 

Another cause is zero-click results like AI overviews, snippets, or an increase in paid search ads. Your solution may be found in how you structure your content or consider changes in your paid media.

If you see mixed results that do not adjust over time, the next step is to evaluate the impacted pages. Compare your page to those that are now ranking well, including the keywords, keyword variations, and content strategy.

Now, you’ve seen the data and search landscape, combining the buyer’s view with results. You’ve sized up the competition, and the search features standing in your way. With the full picture, let’s talk optimizations (if any).

Making Optimizations

Now ask yourself, were the dropped pages relevant ones needed to rank for queries that fulfill user intent within your customer’s search journey?

• If yes, we have more questions for you below!
• If no, do pages that fulfill user intent for the query exist on the site? 
  • If not, it’s time to create and optimize those pages based on user intent from a technical, content, and experience perspective. The goal is to ensure that they provide a more comprehensive, authoritative, and higher-quality experience than the best-ranked pages.
  • If you have pages that fulfill that intent for the queries in question, we have more questions for you, too!

For all who answered yes, keep calm and carry on. This may feel like an interrogation, but we’re getting to the bottom of the algorithm’s impact to get your website back on track or better.

Next question: are these pages optimized from a technical, content, and experience perspective to fulfill the queries’ needs and provide a higher-quality, authoritative, and more comprehensive answer/service than the best-ranked competitors?

• If no, optimize the pages to fulfill the needs of the relevant queries from a technical content and experience perspective, making sure they provide a more comprehensive, authoritative, and higher-quality experience than the best-ranked ones.
• If yes, don’t do anything. Seriously. If you are truly providing a better quality, comprehensive, authoritative experience than the best-ranked pages already, you should regain your rankings soon. 
  • Should these rankings not return, this will require a larger investigation into your competitors and your digital marketing strategy. You can’t blame Google on this one.

Google’s Not the Enemy

As Google performs search platform tune-ups and other maintenance, it’s important to note the results of each new update regarding your website to keep your buyer’s journey smooth.

Google’s not the bad guy here. Its goal is to release updates that provide a good search experience for users by populating helpful content and connecting people to businesses with a good reputation that matches user intent. Relevant content, user experience, or excellent website usability is important to you as a user, so be sure it is also important to your customers’ experience.

With so much at stake (the success of your business) and so many variables online, like algorithm updates, new search features, competitor changes, etc., it’s essential to monitor SEO performance and strategize, not react. Having a team like OuterBox on your side can stabilize your search visibility despite these shifts.