Dose 4: 3 Ways You Can Prep Your Website for Google SEO Core Update Nov '21

Several times a year, Google brings some changes to their search algorithms and structure, which they call “Core Update”. These changes are designed to ensure that users are getting a valuable experience through their searches.?

Recently, Google announced their November 2021 Core Update, providing guidance on what website owners should know about the update, including how Google will rank their site based on content quality and E-A-T i.e. Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. In this Newsletter, I’ve lined up the biggest takeaways from the November update.

SEMrush, Mozcast, Rank Ranger, and numerous other such sites revealed that the update was quite disruptive, with volatility marked at very high just a day after the announcement, i.e. 9.3/10.

Source: https://www.semrush.com

It’s also been reported that about 84% of top 20 ranking URLs are still in the top 20 positions, meaning about 16% of URLs have fallen out of the first 2 pages of Google search results since the Core Update.?

Guidelines on Improving Your Rankings

According to Google, there’s nothing you need to do that can immediately fix your rankings. You can just wait till the dust has settled and then work on optimizing your content to be relevant during future updates. Following are some tips through which you can prepare your website:?

Make the Website Mobile Friendly:?

According to SEMrush, the November 2021 Core Update was about 12% more disruptive than its predecessor (July 2021 Update), with mobile search results experiencing a volatility of 23%, meaning it’s important for website owners to keep an eye on their mobile rankings too when these algorithm changes roll out.

Pay Attention to Load Time

Google pays attention to your page’s load time and focuses extra hard on the images you’ve used. If any of your content isn’t optimized for online viewing, Google won’t rank your page high, just like visitors won’t prefer coming to your page due to its lack of simplicity when it comes to user experience.?

Use Relevant Page Titles:?

The title of your page tells the readers and the search engine what a specific page on your website is about. Provide a clear and concise description of the page, as it makes the content more relevant and has a better chance of ranking higher if you’ve used the right keywords.?

Google also suggests doing an audit of the drops you experienced and noticing which type of pages were impacted the most and to what levels. Also, you need to take note of how your content is doing from an E-A-T perspective and which improvements you can consider.?

In conclusion, the biggest advantage of Google’s Core Updates and its recommended guidelines is that you understand how to move forward with your website once its rankings have been affected, either in a negative or even a positive way.?

This article is part of my weekly newsletter?Dose of Digital?where I share tips, tricks and growth strategies.?Subscribe & share!