Google has been rolling out core updates over the past few years and they’ve become more and more complicated. The latest update, often referred to as the ‘core vapes’, was released in August of this year and many sites have been affected both negatively and positively. For those who haven’t seen a major change in rankings, the cause and effect can be difficult to identify and combat. So, how did I succeed in beating Google’s core update and survive the chaos it created?
The paradigm shift for combatting Google’s core update is to change the game. Instead of responding to the changes within the algorithm and adapting my SEO strategies to adjust, I decided to put the reins in my own hands. I changed my mindset from focusing on rankings to a more comprehensive view of the overall user experience. To do this I focused on factors such as site speed, usability, relevance and content optimization.
I saw site speed as one of the most important aspects and tackled this first. Even a simple two to three-second delay can drastically lower user engagement and overall experience so I needed to optimize my website to get my page loading times down. I used the Google Web Vitals tool to identify sources of slow response times and easily made fixes such as compressing images and minifying code.
Site usability is also an important factor in promoting users to read, go through and make use of what we are offering so I optimized my website's design. This included simplifying layout designs, improving navigation and focusing on aspects such as font size, readability and colour contrast.
Content is King so it was essential for me to optimize for relevance and accuracy. I ensured my content was relevant to the user’s search query by understanding their intent and optimizing my keywords to meet this. I also enhanced accuracy in regards to facts, figures and syntax.
Finally, to help my website stand apart from the competition, I used backlinking. By linking our content to credible 3rd-party sites, users could clearly identify our professionalism and trustworthiness which is essential for long-term success.
The tactics I used to beat Google’s core update are essential for SEO success no matter the algorithm. By taking control and focusing my efforts on website optimization, usability and content accuracy, I was able to beat Google’s core update by changing the game.