Core Updates: What are they? How do you recover from one?

@schachin
Kristine@SitesWithoutWalls.com Kristine Schachinger
Kristine Schachinger | @schachin | Kristine@SitesWithoutWalls.com
Google’s Long Hot Update Summer

@schachin

@schachin
Google Update Summer
• Not 1 ..
• Not 2 ..
• Not even 3 updates this summer
• But 4
… (and maybe more.)

@schachin
Takeaways.
• We have …
• 2 Core Updates
• 2 Major Page Experience ”Updates”
• Includes Core Web Vitals
• Rolling out all summer, but two dates were given as part of that rollout.
And as far as we know now at least 2 SPAM Updates.
Update Summer.

@schachin
Google Update Summer
Make sure to inform clients that
there could be some temporary volatility
in their Search Results for the
next few months.

@schachin
Google Algorithm Updates – Usability
ALL ABOUT SPAM.
Update Summer – SPAM Algorithms.
Update Summer.
Spam Algorithms.

@schachin
Spam to Site Quality.
Google’s New Algorithms.

@schachin
Instead of strictly
creating algorithms to filter out SPAM & Usability Issues
now Google creates algorithms to
filter out low quality sites…
These are Quality Updates.
Update Summer.
Site Quality Algorithms.

@schachin
Page Experience
&CWV Updates.

@schachin
Update Summer.
Page Experience Algorithms.
Page Experience Algorithm Rollout Dates:
• Started Jun 15th 2021
• in Top Stories on Jun 17th
• Will end at the end of Aug 2021
• For Mobile
• Desktop will follow

@schachin
Page Experience Updates are composed of…
Update Summer.
Page Experience Algorithms.
• Page Experience Factors
• Including Core Web Vitals

@schachin
https://developers.google.com/search/docs/guides/page-experience
Google Developer Docs
Page Experience includes
• Core Web Vitals
• Mobile Friendly Checks
• Safe Browsing
• HTTPS
• No Intrusive Interstitials

@schachin
Page Experience Updates.

@schachin
Google Developer Docs
Page Experience includes
• Core Web Vitals
• Mobile Friendly Checks
• Safe Browsing
• HTTPS
• No Intrusive Interstitials
Optimizing your Page Experience
-- Resources.
Here are some resources that can help you measure, monitor, and optimize
your page experience.
• Learn about the different tools that can help you measure and report
Core Web Vitals. These tools measure LCP, FID, and CLS.
• Check if your page is mobile-friendly with the Mobile-Friendly Test.
• Check to see if your site has any safe-browsing issues by using
the Security Issues report.
• Check if your site's connection is secure. If the page isn't served over
HTTPS, learn how to secure your site with HTTPS.
• Make sure that you're not using interstitials in a way that makes content
less accessible.
• Review our Core Web Vitals and Page Experience FAQs.

@schachin
CWV Updates.
Good News on CWVs.
These are UPVALUATIONS ONLY!
Bad News on CWVs.
These are UPVALUATIONS ONLY!
So, if you don’t do the work and your competitors do
it could feel like a devaluation.

@schachin
Page Experience Updates.
All other PE Factors.
Can UPVALUE or DEVALUE.

@schachin
How To Measure Page Experience.

@schachin
Core Updates.

@schachin
Core Updates.
Core Update Algorithm Rollout Dates:
• Part 1
• Jun 2021
• Part 2
• Mid-Jul 2021

@schachin
https://www.sistrix.com/blog/google-algorithm-change-hints-of-medic-rollback/
MEDIC

@schachin
Medic is a misnomer.
Sites most hit fall under what is called “Your Money or Your Life” sites.
https://searchengineland.com/seos-show-mixed-results-following-google-march-2019-core-update-314600

@schachin
“YMYL”
https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf
YMYL Pages are …
• News and Current Events
• Civics, Government, and Law
• Finance
• Shopping
• Health and Safety
• Groups of People
• OTHER!

@schachin
Takeaways.
But Google says it does not know what YMYL site
is in search, so how does it target them?
YMYL Sites
https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-algorithm-updates

@schachin
Takeaways.
The devil is in the details.
• They ARE NOT looking at YMYL SITES
• They ARE LOOKING at YMYL QUERIES (Entities)
YMYL Sites

@schachin
Takeaways.
Entities
(fancy word for NOUN)
YMYL is addressed at the QUERY LEVEL
Because Google DOES know what QUERIES are YMYL
YMYL Sites
https://gofishdigital.com/clustered-entities-in-googles-search-results/

@schachin
What are CORE UPDATES?

@schachin
The HINT is in the NAME: “CORE”

@schachin
Core Updates = Core Ranking Factors
Google is tweaking the
CORE RANKING FACTORS
to better surface the type of sites
as described in the Quality Raters Guide.
It is a QUALITY UPDATE.

@schachin
• Accuracy of Content
• Authorship
• Credentials of Authors
• Bios (unless a news site)
• Linking Out
• Links to Certifications
• Known Brands
• Reviews
What Medic or the CORE UPDATES are NOT.

@schachin
• Swear words in your comments
• Tone of your content
• Schema (while good not related to CUs)
What Else?
And ALSO are NOT.

@schachin
Takeaways.
This is what CORE UPDATES
are about -- per Google.

@schachin
Core Updates ARE SEVERE (Generally).

@schachin
How do you recover?

@schachin
FIRST THING?
IGNORE GOOGLE HERE.
If a site went up and you went down, they did something you did not.
https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/973241540486164480

@schachin
Read the Google Documents
on “How Search Works”

@schachin
Takeaways.
And these…
Read: How Search Works!
https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/algorithms/
AND….

@schachin
Core Updates = Core Ranking Factors
• Meaning of your Query
• Relevance of Webpages
• Quality of Content
• Usability of Webpages
https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/algorithms/

@schachin
Check the site for issues related
to Core Ranking Factors - then fix!
FIX a CORE UPDATE?

@schachin
USUALLY - THE ISSUES WILL BE GLARING!
The issues also might have been on the site for YEARS
With NO NEGATIVE EFFECT!
FIX a CORE UPDATE?

@schachin
Core Updates are boringly simple.
Yet complex.

@schachin
Takeaways.
Simple but Complex.
Query Issues
• Relevance
• User Intent
• Shifting
Overall Site Quality
• Technical
• Usability
• Content Quality
• Inbound Links (likely not)

@schachin
How to Fix Core Updates.
First 
Make sure to CHECK YOUR QUERIES FIRST
Core Updates happen at the QUERY LEVEL
see where you lost IMPRESSIONS & CLICKS in Google Search Console
Don’t Use Third Party Tools.

@schachin
Next run a site crawl and find your technical issues 
Make sure to fix TECHNICAL ISSUES FIRST*
because if Google cannot crawl and index your pages properly,
the REST DOES NOT MATTER.
*This includes internal linking, site architecture, & page speed.

@schachin
Next run a site crawl and find your technical issues 
Make sure to fix TECHNICAL ISSUES FIRST*
Most important.
• Site Architecture
• Internal Linking
• In the past page speed, but with CWV may be
removed now, still make sure you fix it for PE.

@schachin
Takeaways.
Then Check & Improve 
Next  How to Fix Core Updates.
• Query Relevance & Content Quality
• Check Google Search Console for Query Drops
• Many sites drop on just a few CORE terms
• Are you pages RELEVANT to the entity searched
• Is your content meeting USER INTENT?

@schachin
Takeaways.
Important Note on Time to Recover!
• Originally you could not recover at all until the next update.
• NOW according to John Mueller, if they tweak ranking factors in
between major updates you may see SOME improvement.
• Still would not expect to see a full recovery without a new rollout.

@schachin
Takeaways.
Site.com

@schachin
E-A-T.

@schachin
E-A-T.
EAT IS Conceptual?
E-A-T has no
• Definition given by Google
• No ranking factors directly tied to it
• So, you are at best guessing what it means
• Why Guessing?
• Because it comes from the Quality Raters Guide which was
NEVER meant to be an SEO GUIDE.

Core Updates: What are they? How do you recover from one?

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