June 2019 brought one of the biggest algorithm updates that Google has done in some time. Unlike the one that launched back in March of 2019, this one seemed to impact a broader scope of websites and industries. Much of what we saw with the March 2019 update was more directed at health/finance type websites. This one, from what we have followed in the forums and groups, has impacted many, many other industries in sometimes, a devistating way.
What Was Different?
One of the main differences that set this update apart from others in the past was that Google warned us it was coming the weekend before. They have never done this in the past. Maybe this was to help people soak in the possibility that something good or bad could be coming on that Monday? Who knows their intentions for pre-announcing this update, but as it has now been running for 5 days, we know it was a biggie!
What Have We Learned So Far?
As I mentioned earlier, this update is still going on. From the tracking our team is doing on our client's websites and our competitors, we are seeing huge ranking fluctuations from hour to hour. Many people experienced some great gains on Monday, only to lose all those gains and more on Tuesday and the following days as well. I have personally talked with some website owners online and they are pretty baffled with this one. After learning more about how a site needs to be in line with EAT (expertise, authority and trust), owners have been scrambling to make their sites as legit as possible and stay away from any grey-black hat marketing. Even when doing this though, some sites are being hammered in the search results. I have read about website owners doing everything by the book; link building properly, making their site load quickly, displaying EAT, creating unique and helpful content, yet they still were hit hard by this update. Many of our own clients did well, but a few that have been prospering for years, lost 20-50% of their traffic overnight. This is a common story in the forums right now. Over the last 15 years I have been in the digital marketing game, I have witnessed these ups and downs, and you need to just roll with them and focus on being the best in your industry. You will bounce back. You just can't give up after one update hurts you. Review your website, improve it, improve it more, and visitors will come.
Because this update is still running, and its still very new, I am sure more information will be released in the upcoming weeks. If you were hit by this update in a negative way, keep your ears open, as you may learn something that will help resolve any issues Google may have with your website.
What Can You Do If You Were Hit?
Our team would recommend that you do nothing dramatic right now. Wait until this Google Update has fully rolled out before making major changes to your website. Now it is a good time to review your website and compare it against Google's Guidelines. See if you have done anything wrong in the past or are currently using any methods that may harm your website. Other things you can check:
- Review your site in Google Search Console
- Use a tool like SEMRush to review your backlinks and run a technical audit report against your website
- Make sure your website is secure with HTTPS
- Test your speed using a tool such as PageSpeed Insights
- Does your site display EAT (expertise, authority and trust)
- Have an expert (like ourselves) to review your website and look for any issues that can cause problems with Google
Google Site Diversity in Search
At the same time this core update was going one, another update was put in place on Google. They did state they were two totally different updates not related at all. They call this "Google Site Diversity in Search". Google now restricts a website from having more that two listings for a specific keyword search. In the past, you could have one domain with 3,4,5+ listings showing on the first page of Google. No longer. You won't be seeing more than one (subdomain or root domain) displaying for any specific search. Now Google has said, if it is a branded search, you may see more than one, and there are other exceptions as well, but you get the point.