Google update - Express Writers

January 2020 Core Update: All You Need to Know (Plus Tips on How to Survive It)

January 1, 2021January 28, 2020 by Adam Oakley

On January 13, Google announced a core algorithm update called the January 2020 Core Update. Immediately, site owners took to social media to express their dismay on (yet another) major change that could affect the years of hard work they’d put into reaching a top spot on Google’s SERPs. Some posted despairing memes. Others begged Google “not to be cruel.” Yet others worried how their keyword rankings would be affected as the new update rolled in. pic.twitter.com/VhifzOau2o — Heba Said (@HebaSaidSEO) January 13, 2020 So, what is the January 2020 Core Update? Should you be worried about it? Most importantly, what changes should you make to your site so you don’t lose your Google rankings? Let’s explore this massive update in today’s brand new blog. [bctt tweet=”Should you be worried about @Google’s January Core Update? What should you do to maintain your rankings? Find out in this new guide by @JuliaEMcCoy” username=”ExpWriters”] January 2020 Core Update: All You Need to Know (Plus Tips on How to Survive It) – Table of Contents January 2020 Core Update, Explained Experts and Content Creators Speak Up about the January 2020 Core Update The Top Sites Impacted by the January 2020 Core Update How to Optimize Your Site to Survive the January 2020 Core Update 5 Aspects of Content That Ranks Well on Google 1. Originality 2. Comprehensiveness 3. Expertise 4. User-Friendly and Trustworthy Presentation 5. User Value 5 Tips to Update Your Content and Continue Ranking Well Despite Major Google Updates 1. Write Content You Can’t Find Elsewhere 2. Improve Content Found on High-Ranking Sites for Your Keyword 3. Proofread to Perfection 4. Step into Your Audience’s Shoes 5. Forget Keywords Moving Forward after the January 2020 Core Update January 2020 Core Update, Explained Google’s number one goal is to provide value to users. Because of this, it has made thousands of changes per year in recent years. However, not all of these changes are noticeable. Most of them are tiny tweaks. The January 2020 Core Update is different. According to Google, this update will have more noticeable and actionable effects for content producers and webmasters. source: Google Webmaster Central Blog [bctt tweet=”The January 2020 Core Update is different. According to Google, this update will have more noticeable and actionable effects for content producers and webmasters.” username=”ExpWriters”] What it boils down to is Google making a brand-new list of the top sites with the most value in 2020. If your site takes a hit and falls in the SERPs, it’s not because it’s a bad site. It’s simply because users are changing. There are a ton of new sites online. And there are sites which have been online for some time, but whose value was never fully discovered. Source: Search Engine Journal Overall, the January 2020 Core Update is going to shake up the SEO world. Let’s look at what webmasters and content creators have to say about it. Experts and Content Creators Speak Up about the January 2020 Core Update Users reacted differently when the news of the January 2020 Core Update was released. Some were dismayed. pic.twitter.com/cN9wSAXasi — Jon Tromans (@JonTromans) January 13, 2020 Others were confused. @JohnMu YOU PEOPLE HAVE ROBBED US OF OUR HARD WORK and Thousands of dollars spent on content. CONFUSED @Google @googlewmc — Kingsley Felix (@Iamkingsleyf) January 14, 2020 Still others decided to laugh it off. I miss the days when these updates had cool animal names — Da Schnitzi (@DaSchnitzi) January 13, 2020 Of course, top marketers and SEO experts had their own opinions. Rand Fishkin’s interest was on the bolded ads, favicons, and brand icons featured in the update. My theory on why this took so long to get to desktop: Google knows it obscures ads & thus increases ad CTR (according to @jumpshotinc data from 2019, the mobile change yielded ~15% more ad clicks), and wanted to wait until a quarter in which they needed to show that growth. https://t.co/5bMQoCLbS2 — Rand Fishkin (@randfish) January 13, 2020 SEMrush listed three prominent changes the update included. What’s new in #Google? January 2020 Core update Brand icons & black ad labels are live on desktop SERPs Brand new SERP features New options in the rich results test More fresh industry news in our first Google News Digest of 2020 https://t.co/7DyriMZo9A. — SEMrush (@semrush) January 20, 2020 A few days after the release of the update, Glenn Gabe tweeted his findings on the “volatile” splash it had made. The Jan 2020 core update volatility seems to be calming down, which makes sense. Danny announced on Thurs that the update completed, although we could see the effects for a week or two. But to me, major volatility should be done. Here are some of the trackers showing volatility: pic.twitter.com/b3nGzW8O31 — Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 18, 2020 Will this update affect you? According to Danny Sullivan, it will, no matter where you live. It’s a global update. It has (and does always unless we say otherwise) rolled out globally. — Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) January 16, 2020 The Top Sites Impacted by the January 2020 Core Update In the few days since the January 2020 Core Update rolled in, various sites in different sectors showed significant change in SERP rankings. Let’s look at the winners and losers (so far). 1. Sites with Improved Rankings Since the January 2020 Core Update According to data from Sistrix, sites in the health sector enjoyed gains since the update rolled in. OnHealth.com and verywellhealth.com saw a 37.7% and 34.72% change, respectively. Source: Sistrix.com Other sites with improved ranking include a football site, a movie tickets site, and two news sites. Could this have to do with trending news (the British Royal Family and the Holocaust) and entertainment content? 2. Sites with Lower Rankings Since the January 2020 Core Update The sites which took the biggest hits since the update are carmagazine.co.uk and boxofficemojo.com. Source: Sistrix.com The data shows car buyer and finance sites also taking hits since the update rolled in. Could … Read more

The Great Content Roundup: Week 8, Ready For Google’s Updates?

December 31, 2020April 8, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Excuse the hiatus, folks – it’s been exactly 5 weeks since I wrote a Great Content Roundup! What exactly was I doing that was more important than the Great Content Roundup? Ha, you got me. Actually, I was moving from Corpus Christi, Texas to Austin, Texas—the land of beautiful parks, trails, lakes, creeks, and even more importantly, awesome eateries and downtown industry events. Photo credit iStock (RoschetzkyIstockPhoto) Why did it take so long? Well, I do have a 9-month-old baby girl, and finding the right daycare was the biggest transition. Then, after that, I somehow caught the bug from the grave—a respiratory and stomach virus with a sinus congestion! Today, I can safely say things are finally going smoothly and my schedule is a bit back to normal, so it’s back to my curated Roundup pieces. I hope no one has missed me too badly. (All right, that was a joke.) This week, I want to take a look at what Google’s planning to hit the web with coming up. There’s a big mobile change that’s been forecasted by all lately, and a few other updates, but what exactly is going on? I did some digging and research. Here’s a fact-based look. Resources on Google’s New Upcoming Mobile Algorithm It’s a must-read: The official Google announcement that they will be finding more mobile-friendly search results came out late February 2015. “Mobilegeddon” Is Coming on April 21 – Are You Ready?” – SEW piece by Chuck Price, written March 9. One of the first pieces coining Google’s mobile algorithm update as the “Mobilegeddon.” The author reminds us of the issues of duplicacy if webmasters reflect mobile pages from desktop URLs, and gives us pros and cons of being mobile. Overall, mobile is a winner—from a ranking and user point of view. SearchEngineLand has 3 Actions to Take To Get Ready for Google’s Mobile Search Update. These are excellent questions every webmaster should be asking themselves in preparation for the coming algorithm update. Is your website ready for Google’s algorithm update? By Erica Tafavoti on Inman. Excellent piece with actionable steps you can take (today) on making sure you’re reading for the big Google changes. Moz’s 9 Things You Need To Know About Google’s Mobile-Friendly Update by Cindy Krum. A very indepth piece about how exactly these mobile changes will happen and how big the change is: “bigger than the Panda and Penguin updates.” And finally, here’s a piece we did: What Types Of Links Does Google Hate? A blog on how to stay safe with your linking strategies and to avoid the types of links Google hates nowadays. Hope that helps! Leave a comment with any suggestions you’d like to see added to our list!