June 2019: Google Announces Two New Updates To Its Search Algorithms
On 3rd June 2019, Google released a broad core algorithm update. Unusual for Google, they pre-announced this update through their @searchliason Twitter account – a welcome occurrence for SEO specialists!
As the second major update of the year, it is expected that there will be positive and negative outcomes to page rankings so we’ve been picking apart the June 2019 update to see what it could mean for your SEO.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Panic!
Google confirmed that the update finished rolling out on 8th June, that’s only five days for the effects to take place globally. Additionally, Google has also launched its diversity listing update separately to the core update which means there may be an overlap in the potential impacts when looking at your analytics.
It takes around 2-4 days to see and understand the impact of a significant algorithm update so our key piece of advice would be…do not panic. In light of the announcements, your best bet is to wait until the dust settles, monitor the changes, analyse the results and then create a plan of action. Danny Sullivan, Google’s public Search Liaison, replied to many queries on Twitter following Google’s announcement, reiterating not to take any dramatic action at this stage.
We’ve been doing our own analysis and so far, industries including Motoring, Finance, Retail and Travel have already experienced positive effects since the update was rolled out. On the other hand, when assessing the impact of the algorithm update on our clients’ SEO efforts, we’ve seen significant growth in traffic, particularly on desktop. For many of these clients, we have written or re-written content to satisfy the E-A-T update and it’s great to see our approach here is working well!
One thing you shouldn’t do is take triumph in positive results or worry if you see negative results immediately after the altered algorithm hits. Typically, Google core algorithm updates can take a day or two to roll out across all of their data centres so the impact can appear more significant across industries in the immediate hours after an update begins.
Google Ramps Up the Diversity
An additional update was released just after the core algorithm one, known as the diversity update. Creating a more diverse set of sites in the SERPs is the primary goal of Google’s recent search update. This means Google will aim to show no more than two results from the same domain for a specific query in the top results, this update is purely domain based and has nothing to do with content. Google does however reserve the right to show more than two results from the same domain name where appropriate.
According to Search Engine Land, Google itself is saying this is not really a typical update and won’t have much of an impact on your site. Pages that have ranked highly before will continue to do so, additionally, it will only impact core web results and won’t affect local listings, images and other search features.
All this doesn’t stop everyone thinking the same thing: what do these updates mean for my SEO efforts?
What Does This Mean for Your SEO?
It’s too early to make any definitive statements but we have already noticed both positive and negative results. From our research, the core algorithm appears to be negatively affecting website rankings within sectors such as software, property and law – this could change in the coming weeks.
It’s important to remember that quality content is still your best asset to influence SERPs, so we urge you not to lose sight of this. The latest core update is essentially a refinement of the August 2018 E-A-T update, Google has updated its Quality Rating Guidelines to reflect this now defining E-A-T as an integral part of determining webpage quality. Keep in mind that broad core algorithm updates don’t always mean you have to fix something on your website!
While the impact takes shape, ensure you’re staying relevant through high-quality, accurate and well-researched content. At the end of the day, users need content no matter what’s occurring in the wider digital landscape. If you have any questions regarding the latest Google updates or need help with your SEO, contact the WMG team.