Search results have been highly volatile over the last six weeks, with several Google updates shaking things up. Being aware of changes like these is crucial for an SEO agency – understanding what is caused by a website change or the result of a Google update.
Below, we’ve included a short recap of these changes and what we can expect going forwards.
Unconfirmed updates in May
Around mid-May, our monitoring detected significant changes in SERPs, which were likely the result of unconfirmed Google updates. Ranking shifts culminated in very noticeable movement between 20th-23rd May and more profound in specific industries.
While Google communicates with search industry professionals through their blog and liaisons such as John Mueller, they do not announce every update. In fact, Google makes continuous daily updates to its algorithm, making it virtually impossible to detail every change. In the past, Google has provided detailed information about more extensive updates yet has become less open about these in recent years.
June Core Update
The June core algorithm update began on 3rd June and completed on the 12th. In their announcement, Google specified that the changes were not broad and most sites wouldn’t be affected. At this time, Google publicised a second core update that would be launched at the beginning of June.
Page Experience Update
The much-anticipated Page Experience Update began its slow rollout on 17th June. While it has caused a considerable stir among website owners, many industry professionals and Google themselves have played down the anticipated impact of these rankings signals. The update will complete at the end of August.
Spam Update – Parts 1 and 2
Two updates were launched on 23rd and 29th June, targeting spam. These updates aimed to remove spam websites from SERPs – targeting specific low-quality sites that are deceptive in nature or contain malware.
July Core Update
Due to internal limitations, the earlier core update was broken up into two parts – the second launching on 1st July. Updates like this usually take a couple of weeks to complete, so we won’t see the full impact until mid-July. As expected, Google’s guidance for these updates has been vague, reinforcing similar statements regarding relevancy, quality and authority.
Going Forwards
Google has launched several updates in a short space of time, creating a very volatile SEO landscape. In addition, the Google team has referred to internal limitations, indicating there could be a backlog of other changes still to come. As a result, we’re anticipating further releases in Google’s pipeline – both confirmed and unconfirmed updates – to be released throughout the summer.
If you’d like to learn more about our SEO services or have questions about a recent update, give us a call or use our contact form to get in touch.