Google rolled out its latest broad core algorithm update last week, which means its time to check how your pages are ranking.
This marks the second time Google has announced an update like this in advance. For those unfamiliar with the update, it’s not intended to penalize sites, but rather to recontextualize what information the pages provide and determine how useful or relevant they are to user searches. Occurring every few months, these updates indicate that Google has reassessed how webpages from other sites are serving related keywords and queries.
Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the September 2019 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog for more about that: https://t.co/e5ZQUAlt0G
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) September 24, 2019
^The official update announcement from Google.
Google conducts these updates as a way to provide users with the most relevant pages and content for their unique search. So, what happens if your PageRank gets throttled?
So What Happens Now?
Early results point to the broad core algorithm update affecting health, media, and travel sites for a variety of reasons. On of the core tenets, when it comes to these updates is the relationship between PageRank and E.A.T. (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness). If a site appears spammy or publishes clickbait content, it’ll be detrimental to the user journey and will cause a negative impact to the site’s PageRank. In this instance, user experience needs to be considered in addition to the overall SEO and content strategy. If the user can’t find what they’re looking for on your page, they’ll click/tap back and Google will notice.
If a competitor has gained traction in PageRank over your relevant pages, consider what type of content you’d like to be create in order to get noticed. A site like Answer The Public is an excellent free tool that helps you identify the context of what users are searching for. Not only will you be able to build out robust content that meets the needs of common search queries, but you’ll improve your PageRank and hopefully, drive more conversions.
So, how do you get started?
Here’s How You Can Solve For X
Don’t Be Content with Your Content
Start by reviewing your existing content strategy to see if it aligns with your current goals and follows Google’s general guidelines for great content. If your rankings are increasing, it’s a positive sign that your content is relevant to users’ queries so continue working towards that. If you see your rankings decrease, consider where the holes are in your strategy and deliver content that follows the E.A.T. principle and provides context to your users. Whether you’re updating your FAQ page, enabling user reviews, or creating relevant blogs – drive interest in what users are searching for on your site.
Reassess Your Ranks
Monitoring changes in your page rank is vital for identifying site issues you need to address. It could be a matter of providing the right experience to users on their purchase journey, such as offering new information at a pivotal touchpoint. Some tactical ideas include using schema markup, optimizing for voice search, and more – as detailed in a previous blog. By approaching these changes as solutions rather than problems, you can improve the long-term performance of your site.
Need help creating relevant pages and high-quality content? Contact us to give your onsite content a boost.
