On 3-Dec Google announced it was rolling out its first algorithm core update since the May 2020 core update. Many observers felt the update rolled out quickly, but as of 10-Dec Google has confirmed that the update is still rolling out. It is far too early to make any kind of predictions concerning the focus of this update, but early indications from the SEO community at large indicate that this was a very big update, even surpassing the size of the massively influential May 2020 update which we wrote about here.
SEO community comment boards have been full of webmasters either lamenting or praising their losses or gains for the past week now. The below image from Rank Ranger shows Google SERP fluctuations over the past month. The image does seem to indicate a massive spike on 4-Dec and then things settling down. Let’s hope that is the case.
It is always best to let a major (core) update settle in for a week or two before attempting to deconstruct what was rewarded or penalised. We will be closely monitoring the situation across our large client base as it pertains to traffic and other health signals and will report back with our findings. Please refer to the above links for further details and stay tuned for further feedback from us.