Google Updated its Ranking Algorithm and Your Ranking May be Affected

Some websites are seeing a change in search engine rankings after a Google core algorithm update made last week. Although the search engine didn’t release any specifics about the update, they did mention that the “broad core algorithm update” would likely change website rankings.

Google Search Liaison confirmed the updates via Twitter on March 12:

Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. Some are focused around specific improvements. Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely several times per year.

Although Google didn’t say what exactly it changed in its algorithm, it did say it might affect rankings of websites. In another tweet, Google explained that web pages may see drops or gains in rankings by no fault of the website itself:

As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded.

Google then went on to say there is no way to change your website’s ranking after the new update:

There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.

How do you know if your website’s rankings will be affected? It’s hard to say. However, the point of these updates is to make improvements to search results and show the most relevant pages possible.

Roger Montti of Search Engine Journal believesthe two areas that are likely part of the recent update are understanding user intent and understanding content. Google is constantly trying to become smarter with searches, so it’s not a crazy theory to think these two SEO-related areas are what the search engine made updates to.

And if Google did make algorithm updates to better understand user intent and content, there’s not much you can change.

In other words, Google is saying “it’s not you, it’s me.”

Not really, other than continuing to concentrate on quality content. But if you hope to rank on the first page, this should have been your priority already. Like Google mentioned, focusing on creating great content that’s SEO-friendly is more worth your time than trying to figure out how to “cheat” the algorithm.

Great content isn’t just defined as informational text that provides every detail and keyword you can think of, however. In the same SEJ article, Montti poses the question ‘what makes content great?’ , a question many content creators ask themselves. Here’s how he explained it:

What makes content great is revealed in the positive response of that site visitor to your content. How convenient it is, how easy it is to find and answer, how easy it is to compare products—all of those user experience features put together are what makes content great.

Essentially, you should always aim to make your content informative, yet easy to understand; detailed, yet straightforward; and well-designed, yet simple.

Yes, it’s a balancing act to accomplish all of this simultaneously. But if you can manage to do it well, Google’s algorithm is more likely to recognize your site’s efforts and reward you accordingly.

After reviewing our ranking reports, we are happy to say that none of our SEO clients suffered any significant drops from this update.