On December 3, Google announced a major core algorithm update that left the SEO world scrambling to predict its potential consequences. The update is a significant modification to ranking in Google’s SERPs, so, naturally, all the SEOs are highly concerned about the update’s impact on their websites.
The previous update was released in May 2020. Google threatened to introduce core updates every 3 months or so, and after 7 months of silence, SEOs were hoping to finish this year without worries. Well, this didn’t happen, but the full scope of the update’s impact is yet to be seen.
How to Secure Rankings: Quality Content Always Comes First
Since August 2019, Google’s basic recommendation for SEOs has remained the same: review your content and make sure it is as helpful and easy to load and digest as possible. The four basic content audit criteria are:
- Quality
Publishing unique, informative texts that represent relevant data and the latest research can give a boost to your site’s ranking.
- Expertise
All the data should be verified so that website visitors get some trustworthy information with proofs.
- Presentation
Page load speed and mobile-friendliness remain significant drivers of website ranking. The content should also be easy to read and understand.
- Competitivity
Compared to other pages on the target SERP, your page should keep up with its "neighbors" in terms of content comprehensiveness, relevance to the search intent, etc.
Such core updates work as an opportunity to reveal weaker pages and improve them so that websites win more visitors.
SEO’s Expectations & Tasks Due to Core Update Impact
No one knows for sure what’s going to happen, but there will be visible results. Some websites may face minor or major drops, while others will see growth. Either way, it’s time to adjust your SEO strategies. Here’s what you can do:
Objectives For SEOs
- As usual, it’s a good idea to audit, refresh, and improve content constantly to make your website a powerful source of information and a magnet for quality links.
- After evaluating the results of the update, SEOs should take a closer look at the pages that ended up dropping and find ways to improve them.
When improving website pages, it is crucial to ensure they are relevant to the visitors’ intent, not your business objectives. Create useful content, and your efforts will be rewarded.
Closing Thoughts
To recap, the December 3 Core Algorithm Update will reveal which pages have comprehensive, easy-to-digest content, and which ones don’t. Chances are that websites with high-quality content will maintain or improve their positions in SERPs.
Google won’t let SEOs rest on laurels long: a major page experience update is planned for May 2021. Since it will deal with UX parameters, it’s high time you check and fix any issue with page speed, usability, etc. All in all, this is another way to make websites better.
