Here at SEO Moves, we work really hard to make sure our clients are not affected by the many Google algorithm updates which seem to pop up out of nowhere! In March, Google released a HUGE update, which has sent many webmasters into a flurry of confusion and panic. We have all seen quite a few of our clients websites suffer minor drops in their keyword rankings, and the odd few who have seen a slight decline in their web visitors over the month since the update was launched. As Google are always very vague about their updates, now we are a few weeks in, we have been able to figure out a little more about what the update was about and how we can avoid being hit by it.
What Was The Update?
The latest update to Google’s algorithm was released around the 7-8 March 2017. It has been named Fred (apparently this is some in joke amongst the SEO community). It seems to have focussed in on the quality of content on sites, alongside the quality of backlinks. The problem here is that older, or poor quality content tends to go hand in hand with low quality backlinks, so it can be tricky to know exactly what might be the cause of the problem on your site!
What Should I Do About It?
If you are certain you have been affected by Fred (check your analytics and see if there was a drop in traffic around the 8-20 March for a start), there are some things you can do right away to help minimise the damage:
- Go through your site and see if you can sort your pages into “high quality” and “low quality” content. See when you last updated content – Google much prefers up to date and relevant content, so go through and see when you last put new things on.
- Match up your lost keywords with low quality pages (you should be able to see previous ranking data and traffic in order to connect the two together).
- Begin to improve your content! Add to, rewrite and make low quality pages better. Include more detail, more description and good English grammar. These will all help to improve the quality score of your pages. Begin with the pages which were driving the most traffic before Fred was released.
- Check to see that your backlinks are ok – remove any poor quality links, spammy looking links and check that your anchor text isn’t all the same. Google seems to be penalising those who use the same anchor text in every link.
The Main Take Aways:
Google likes new, fresh, relevant and interesting content. It does not like spammy content which focusses too much on advertising. It likes natural backlinks, with a good ratio of ‘follow’ and ‘no follow’ tags, along with a diverse range of anchor text. If you aren’t sure, it is certainly worth checking up on the latest Google Webmaster Guidelines. Or, if you want further clarification, why not speak to our expert SEO consultants here at SEO Moves? Our team are able to offer advice on how the Google algorithm updates affect sites and could be able to point you in the right direction. Contact our SEO team today!