The SEO world is all of a flutter at the moment – especially our Manchester SEO.
Why?
Well, Google just announced a series of updates to their core algorithm. Yes, a series. Not one, but two updates over the period of four weeks.
What is a core algorithm?
A core algorithm is the series of complex calculations that Google (and other search engines) use to determine where your website should appear on their search engine results pages – and whether it should appear at all!
Are core algorithm’s a big deal then?
Yes. Well probably.
At SEO MCR we offer the best SEO in Manchester, so, we know that Google makes changes to its algorithms all the time – sometimes as many as nine times a day – and they don’t usually tell us about it.
However, when they make a core update, they usually announce it with a bit of a fanfare (as above) which tends to shake things up in the world of SEO.
Big announcements like this, tend to mean the changes are going to be significant and possibly disruptive, meaning websites could potentially see rankings dive overnight. Or they could rocket. Or there could be no difference.
So, it’s hard to tell really whether updates are good or bad at the announcement stage.
So, why do business owner’s need to worry about core updates then?
Well, as we said, core updates can sometimes lead to big drops in website rankings which can then negatively affect website traffic.
Research has shown that dropping just one place in Google’s rankings (if you are in the first place) could lead to a drop of 13% in the number of visitors to your website. And if you drop out of the top three on Google’s SERP’s then you could lose 60% of your traffic – which is frightening.
It is not all doom and gloom though.
What’s bad for one can be good for another
A core update could mean you lose rankings, yes, but it could also mean that you climb in the rankings instead. This could be a page or two, or space or two.
If you break into the top three results, for example, this could be game-changing for your business – an additional 60% of traffic for example.
And that’s where we come in.
Here at SEO MCR, our search engine optimisation team works hard to stay on top of Google’s likes and dislikes, and tweak our client’s websites so that Google rewards them.
We do this by:
- Making sure all sites were mobile friendly prior to Google’s mobile first update
- Making sure all content posted on client’s websites is compelling and unique, as requested by Google’s Panda update
- Making sure all clients websites were SSL and secure before Google did their site security update
And so on. We are like the scouts in that respect. Always prepared.
How can SEO MCR help you prepare for Core Updates?
We help you by making sure everything we do, and you do, on your website is adding value to your visitors.
We focus on this, and not on what Google is doing because despite the number of times Google tweaks its algorithm some things don’t change.
Google’s aim, at the end of the day, is to recommend the best answer for the user’s search query.
So, what we do is to make sure
- Your site provides the best information in your area of expertise
- Google recognises that your site offers the best information
And no, we can’t tell you how we do this, as it is down to a thousand little things that all come together.
What do you need to know
What is important for you to keep in mind is that SEO is a long-term game. Over the course of an SEO campaign, your rankings will go up and down, and so we have to work consistently to make sure your website is performing as well as it can.
This quote from Google might help you to understand this better:
“One way to think of how a core update operates is to imagine you made a list of the top movies in 2015. A few years later in 2019, you refresh the list. It’s going to naturally change. Some new and wonderful movies that never existed before will now be candidates for inclusion. You might also reassess some films and realise they deserve a higher place in the list than before.”
This basically means your website does not need to change in order for its ranking on the search engine results pages to change. Other websites might come up and overtake you. Or Google might relook at your website and decide it actually offers more value than they originally thought.
However, realistically, a website that has not changed in twelve months or more is probably not going to move up the rankings naturally. It is only likely to do so if you (or we) work on it. Consistently.
What is coming next?
Well, on top of these two core updates that Google recently announced (that seem to be around spam) there is also another update planned called the Page Experience update.
The Page Experience update looks at signals on your website that tell Google how quick and smooth the browser experience is for your website visitors. The phrase Core Web Vitals will also be mentioned a lot.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are the set of calculations that Google uses to score your website pages based on things like load times and whether elements on your page move around as the page is loading.
It’s not just about Google though
This article has focused on the changes that Google is making, and how this may affect your business, but that is not the only reason for you to continue to invest in SEO.
Your business will also be changing constantly, as will your customers and competitors? SEO can help your business to adapt by improving your authority online, making you more relevant to your customers, and improving their experience on your site.
This means that sometimes it can be good to sit back and take a look at your SEO strategy and your content strategy to make sure they are still aligned with where your business now is.
But where to start?
The answer to this is easy. Start with SEO MCR.
We offer a variety of SEO services including local search engine optimisation services in Manchester and can give you lots of ideas on how to make your business more successful. Get in touch to find out more.
