Google shakeups are pretty commonplace.
The search giant is interested in one thing and one thing only – providing the most relevant results possible, as quickly as possible, to every search query made on the site – and Google makes frequent adjustments to their internal algorithms to do exactly that.
Some of these adjustments are relatively minor and fly under the radar, but others (like Penguin and Panda, for example) have the potential to turn search result rankings on their head.
If your site has been hit by a Google algorithm update and you’re wondering what to do next you want to check out the rest of this quick guide.
Assess the Impact
Right out of the gate, you’ll want to fully assess the impact that the algorithm has had on your site from top to bottom.
This means digging into your internal analytics to see which pages have been hit the most, comparing them with search results you had before the algorithm landed, and trying to really understand which areas of your site need to be triaged first.
The odds are always pretty good that you are going to have certain pages that aren’t doing as well as they used to with other pages maintain their position or even improving, especially if your search engine optimization efforts have been strategically deployed.
It’s important to get to the bottom of things before moving forward, though.
Diagnose Your Rough Edges
The next big piece of the puzzle is to look at each of the pages on your site that were hit hardest to figure out why they were specifically laid out by the algorithmic update.
This is going to require a bit of heavy lifting on your end. You’ll need to have a look at your keywords used, keyword density, whether or not your on page SEO is as well optimized as you had thought it was, whether you’re meta-tags and alternative tags are dialed in, etc.
You really need to quickly identify the patterns that each of these pages share to understand why you’ve been hit hard by the algorithmic changes.
Analyze Your Competitors
You aren’t going to be the only person hit hard by changes to the Google algorithm.
These algorithmic updates hit everyone across the board and you’ll want to have a look at how your competitors are faring against the new changes.
Some of them may be doing very well, and you’ll want to dig deeper into what they are doing on page (as well as off page) to get a better feel for what you can do better moving forward. Some of them may be doing very poorly, though, and it’s a great opportunity for you to leapfrog ahead and grab some higher rankings before they are able to scramble and fix their mistakes.
Run a Backlink Audit
Any time (and we mean ANY time) Google releases a new algorithm update you’re going to want to conduct a quick backlink audit to make sure that the links you’ve created are still working for you, that they are still out there, and that you are still getting “link juice” from them.
Backlinks remain a huge piece of the puzzle when it comes to success in the world of search engine optimization.
No matter what else changes, backlink generation is critically important and you want to make sure that your links remain on high authority pages, credible pages, and sites that are going to give you a bump even in the wake of these changes to the algorithm.
There are a lot of platforms out there that can help you automate a backlink audit in a hurry and you want to leverage them on a regular basis.
Call in the Experts
Lastly, if your site was particularly hit hard by an algorithm update you’re going to want to consider calling in the experts – legitimate SEO freelancers, consultants, or even a full-blown SEO agency – to get you back on track.
The world of search engine optimization is constantly and ever-changing.
What works today to rank a website highly may not work at all tomorrow, or worse – because of algorithmic updates – it may cause your rank to tank.
Unless you are knee-deep in the world of search engine optimization on a day-to-day, minute to minute basis like these professionals are you might always feel a step or two behind your competitors.
By leveraging the help of real experts you’re able to immediately boost your results while freeing up your time and energy to focus on other areas of your business that you have expertise in.
Don’t be shy about calling in the pros when necessary.
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