Quick SEO Tip #37 - Handling Google Updates

My biggest tip is to do absolutely nothing for at least two weeks . Google updates take a while to roll through and traffic levels can vary a lot . For a while . Wait till the dust has settled . Okay , let's cover what a Google update is . First of all .

Every so often , google will make some changes to their main ranking systems , which they then have to roll out over a period of time . So these are like major changes to the way that they score , rank and classify websites . There's various different sorts .

The main usual one is what's called a core update , and that's something that can cover many , many factors and it's like at the core of their own . So they call them core updates . Sometimes they do specific updates that target particular areas .

So they , for example , recent ones have been product reviews updates which have impacted sites which have lots of product reviews or areas of sites with product reviews on them . They also do what I'm called a helpful content update , where they're trying to classify which sites are helpful and which aren't .

And if you fall under , if your site now becomes classified as one of them not being helpful , you can see very large drops in traffic . They link building processes and other things like that .

So these core updates , when they come along , they take anything from a few hours up to almost 29 days to roll out , but the average seems to be sort of 10 to 15 days , something like that . Google and pre-announce these updates and also announce when they're finished .

So one of the key things to take with this is , when these updates start to roll out , is to really not try and second guess them until the update is completely finished rolling out . Sometimes , as these updates roll out , they will tweak the dials on them , so you may see some very large ranking fluctuations .

So in some cases you might see a very large drop followed by sometimes a bit of a recovery . Sometimes you might see a drop followed by a complete recovery within that period .

So what you don't want to do during this time is any major changes to your site , because obviously , if you're doing changes while a update is rolling out and those dials are being changed by Google on their end .

You can't really tell whether anything that you've done has impacted yourself positively or negatively , because the underlying algorithm underneath is changing so much over this period that you're just going to get yourself confused . So that's what the first bit of advice is to do absolutely nothing .

Just keep an eye on the situation , see what other people are saying on Twitter or other forums , but try not to read too much into anything that's occurring during this time .

All you can really do is sit back and watch , and lots of people say don't even watch , because it can just be too bad negative for your mental health to see these things go up and down Now . I've been hit by Google updates in the past , most probably Panda and Penguin , which I've mentioned in other episodes back in the early 2010s . It is really painful .

I understand that if you're hit by one at any point , you're going to be tearing your hair out . All I can say with hindsight is that it does get better . You will figure things out in the longer run .

Things will appear , people will figure out how to get around these algorithms and what changes you need to make , but they won't be making those discoveries immediately . So there'll be lots of speculation out there .

There'll be lots of people posting the types of sites that are being hit and their theories about why they've been hit , but really at this point during the update running out , no one really has the answers . So Well , it can be interesting , and I'm not saying don't look at what other people are saying .

You've got to take everything with a pinch of salt and just put it into the mix when you're trying to work out what's going on . But really sometimes it can take several months really before people completely nail down how to recover sites like this . So the temptation is hard to resist trying to fix things quickly , but you just can't .

You've just got to wait , because otherwise you're just sort of you're running blind , basically , and you know you might get lucky , but you're more likely to just make your site worse , potentially do more harm to your site by trying to fix it early and waiting to much clearer on what actually needs to be done .

So what positives can we take from a Google update like this ? Well , there's a few actually . One is it's a good reminder to try and diversify your traffic and try and diversify your income streams If you rely totally on Google traffic , then you are completely at the whim of Google and this is a good demonstration of the risks you're taking . Now what ?

In some areas it's impossible to get away from that . Then your diversification isn't just into traffic from other sources , from sources other than Google .

It might be actually to diversify into other websites and covering different topics , different areas , different types of websites , so that you have more resilience in the case of updates like this happening in the future , just to spread your risk . Essentially , it's like having a balanced portfolio .

If you're in stocks and shares , you wouldn't just put all your money into one share or one class of shares . You would look to diversify across a range of shares and types of shares . So it's like that with building sites have a range , have a diversification . The other positive is you're not alone .

In your sector , your niche , your area , you'll find lots of your competitors are likely to have been hit by the same update . Now , this means that in the longer run , some of those competitors are going to give up . So this is where you've got to apply the tip from the previous episode about patience . You've got to take the rough with the smooth .

If you carry on , carry through , carry on working and don't give up . It means that when you do sort it out , there's going to be less competition out there in your area , your niche , so that you will be able to come back stronger in the longer run . It's really key . You've got to look at the journey of owning building sites as a long haul .

There's going to be peaks and there's going to be troughs . Sometimes you're winning , sometimes you're losing . If you stick at it long enough , overall the trajectory will be upwards . This is a setback . If you've been hit by an update , it can hurt . The loss of income can be terrible .

That's why I say always in the good times , make sure you put somebody aside . Don't get carried away . Don't spend all your income . You've got to make sure you've got a cushion to fall back on . If you've done that , if you've got a cushion , if you've got patience , you've got time , then you will outlast your competitors .

The ones that give up at the first hurdles , the ones that give up when they first get hit , the ones that can't afford . They spent all the money . They can't afford to take the bad times . They have to go back and get a job . You're going to be the ones that outlast them . That's the key thing Patience . Look at it as a long term game .

This is a setback , it's a hiccup , but it's not the end of the road . You've got to keep on pushing . Let's say it one more time Tip 37 , been hit by Google Update . Don't panic . My biggest tip is to do absolutely nothing for at least two weeks . Google updates take a while to roll through and traffic levels can vary a lot for a while .

Wait till the dust has settled . Hopefully I've given you some good ideas on how to maintain your mindset through this period , actions to take once the dust has settled and to be cautious in your recovery . But given time and perseverance and dedication , you will get through your push-through and in the longer run you will have a much better website .

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I'd love to hear from you . I'm at Channel 5 on Twitter where you can email me at podcast at KeywordsPeopleUsecom . Bye for now and see you in the next episode of SGO . Is not that hard .