Digital Marketing

Google launched December 2020 Core Update

  24 November 2020

Google launched December 2020 Core Update

Google has launched the December 2020 Broad Core Update after a long wait since May 2020 core update seven months ago. Google introduced May 2020 core update, which was big & broad & it took several weeks to roll out.

Google also introduced January 2020 update on the basis of search engine results, & it was not based on factors that a webmaster can immediately improve upon (for example, prioritizing fast loading or mobile indexed pages.

But around 1 pm ET, Google rolled out December Core Update which was two and a half hours after Google said it would roll out. The Core updates were based on reassessing content such that it should not violate the webmaster guidelines nor been subjected to a manual or algorithmic action.

There’s nothing in a core update that targets specific pages or sites, but we need to focus on how our systems assessed overall content in the website. Suppose you made a list of the top 100 books in 2015, but in 2019, that list of book will be updated. You might also reassess some books and realize they deserved a better place on the list than they had before.

We confirm that the broad core update produced some widely notable effects & some sites may note drops or gains during them. So sites that dropped must be fixed, and we want to ensure they don’t try to fix the wrong things.

Focus on content

If the page rank deteriorates after core updates, we need to focus on ensuring you’re offering the best content you can. That’s what our algorithms seek to self-assess & finally reward if we are offering quality content.

We’ve needed to answer a fresh set of questions about your content:

Shopping Trends

Online shopping has grown significantly and “shopping posts” have become common in social media. According to a survey, 70% of Instagram users find new products on the platform. 4000 Pinterest users are using Pinterest to find new products as well. Facebook takes it a step further as its user have Facebook Marketplace to buy products. Users are now finding it quick, convenient and hassle-free to find new products.

Some of Content and quality questions:

  • We got to check whether the content provides original information, reporting, research or analysis.
  • We got to check whether the content provides a considerable, complete or comprehensive description of the topic.
  • We got to check whether the content provides insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious.
  • We got to check whether the content draws on other sources, does it avoid simply copying or rewriting those sources and instead provide substantial additional value and originality.
  • We got to check whether the headline and/or page title provides a descriptive, helpful summary of the content.
  • We got to check whether the headline and/or page title avoid being exaggerating or it is shocking in nature.
  • Is that this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
  • Would you expect to ascertain this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?

Expertise questions

After the Core updates we need to focus on some of the expert questions below:

  • We got to check whether the content is presenting information in a way that exhibits clear sourcing, evidence of the expertise involved, background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site’s About page.
  • If you researched the site producing the content, need to check whether the content is well-trusted, widely-recognized as an authority is on its topic.
  • Check whether this content written by an expert or enthusiast demonstrate the subject well? Is that the content free from easily-verified factual errors?
  • Will you trust this content for issues relating to your money or your life? We need to check whether the content is free from spelling or stylistic issues.
  • Whether the content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
  • We need to check whether the content is mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites such that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care.
  • Whether the content has an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
  • Whether the content display well for mobile devices when viewed on them? We need to check whether the content provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results.
  • We need to check whether the content seems to be serving the genuine interests of visitors to the site.

Beyond asking yourself these questions, we need to consider whether any unaffiliated site are providing an honest assessment. Also, consider why the drop in rank has happened. Check what pages were most impacted and for what types of searches? We need to look closely at how they’re assessed against some of the questions above.

Get Quality Rater Guidelines & E-A-T

Another advice on great content is to review our search quality rater guidelines. Raters are the people who give us insights about whether our algorithms are providing good results, a way to assist confirm our changes are working well. Raters are trained to understand if the content has what we call strong E-A-T. That stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. Reading the rules may help you assess how your content is doing from an E-A-T perspective and improvements to consider.

Recovery after the updates

There is no guarantee of recovery even if the site owner make changed in the website search nor do pages have any static or guaranteed position in our search results. Google will not understand content the way human beings do, they will look for signals we collect about the content & correlate with how human asses relevance. Google will check how pages connect to other. Google will test the broad core update by collecting feedback from the search quality raters & will keep doing more testing to make the ranking systems improved.

Effects on Digital Marketing

Digital Marketers need to go through the SERP data & need to make decision on how the digital marketing efforts need to be changed. They need to check short, poor quality content that does not cover the topic extensively. With all sorts of keyword stuffing, adding up the thin content with backlinks in the site will not help in ranking. They need to focus on Authority content, which mean in-depth, meaningful information with thorough and engaging content. High-quality content with in-depth domain knowledge will get advantage. Content supported only by backlinks dipped heavily in SERP after the May 2020 Core Update & will continue in December.

Since the May 2020 Core Update, directories listing have helped in improvement of rankings, along with aggregators. Google may be promoting directories to users to help them find information more efficiently. Duplicate listings, incorrect or old information, misspellings will be a disfavour before as the popularity and visibility of directories increases.

Not all industries has been affected by the Core Update. Data we have in the post-update is also affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Powerful sites may experience volatility as press releases and duplicate content will lose points. News sites have seen an increase in traffic and almost no drop in SERP ratings due to the pandemic & election year. The users are reading & searching news more extensively than ever in this new environment.

Travel, Real Estate, and Health industries have seen major changes after the May 2020 Core Update due to Corona Virus. “Pets and Animals” and “People and Society” have seen changes in SERP. We need to check whether we are producing high-quality content with real value with proper backlink strategy. That means that we need to create high-quality content all the time, such that we are getting be rewarded in the SERPs. Visit Digistart today to know more.

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