Google announced on 1st July that they are rolling out their latest core update and it will take around two weeks for it to complete. This follows on from the June 2021 core update that rolled out in about 10 days last month.
The July update is expected to include the updates that were not ready in time for the June release. Google explained that some of their improvements were not completed in time for June and would need to be pushed back until July. So how will this latest update affect the search algorithm?
What impact will the update have?
Google advises that websites may notice a negative impact on their SEO rankings after any core update. This is not an indication that there is a problem with the website. Often there is a recovery that occurs naturally after an update and before the next one hits.
Google has emphasised that it is important not to overreact to a drop in rankings after an update as it would be tempting to correct things that do not actually need fixing and this may have an even more detrimental effect on rankings.
Google explained that following an update, it often changes the way it assesses web content to take into account changes in searches and popularity and to keep its algorithms current. Their suggestion to mitigate any impact on rankings is to ensure that content is always fresh, original and insightful.
Previous Updates
The last three months have been filled with updates from Google. These have included product review updates in April followed by the core update, the page experience update and the Spam update, all in June.
In the past, we have seen that every few months Google has rolled out a core update. However, since May 2020 there has been at least 6 months between core updates. There have been differing impacts made by the updates with the May 2020 update having a wide effect that took 2 weeks to fully roll out. The December 2020 core update had an even bigger impact than the May one with warnings for websites to be aware of a potential negative impact on their SEO rankings.
The January 2020 core update also came with a warning, but the previous September 2019 core update had much less of an impact. In fact, many SEO and websites found it to be a noticeably weaker change.
Even earlier, the November 2019 update only affected local rankings and did not have a full impact on wider SEO rankings. So, what about this latest July 2021 update?
What should you do?
It is important to be aware when Google is releasing a new core update. You can keep an eye on your website’s ranking in search results. Making regular comparisons on your site’s rankings can help you to understand if it’s a problem with your site or as a result of an update. Using your site’s analytics can ensure that your content is of the right quality to achieve good results with the latest google algorithm.
If you require any help with your business website rankings get in touch with the team at SEO & Web here.
