Last week Google updated their Core algorithm and sent a few shudders through the SEO community at the same time. Many were speculating it was another Penguin or Panda update however Google say it was only a change to their core algorithm.
There is however an expected update to Panda which should occur sometime this year (Panda targets ‘low quality’ websites and is refreshed regularly).
Google also sent out a message to Search Engine Land confirming the update.
“ This is not a Panda update. As you know, we’re always making improvements to our search algorithms and the web is constantly evolving. We’re going to continue to work on improvements across the board.”
Now The Dust Has Settled
So what’s the outcome? Since the update there’s been some significant movements in News publication websites. Essentially, this update is about ‘trending’ topics or trending keywords.
Search Metrics analysed traffic to news sites and saw some significant increases:
| Domain | SEO Visibility 19th June | Change in % |
| wsj.com | 895796 | 19% |
| usatoday.com | 1288587 | 11% |
| dailymail.co.uk | 995618 | 12% |
| businessinsider.com | 625008 | 20% |
| time.com | 905321 | 13% |
| nbcnews.com | 387537 | 30% |
| latimes.com | 692956 | 13% |
| nypost.com | 409336 | 21% |
| techcrunch.com | 345354 | 26% |
| foxnews.com | 665623 | 12% |
| steampowered.com | 350761 | 22% |
| bizjournals.com | 319230 | 24% |
| theverge.com | 417862 | 17% |
| fortune.com | 172396 | 45% |
| gizmodo.com | 289973 | 20% |
| dict.cc | 126850 | 59% |
| hollywoodlife.com | 399168 | 13% |
| techtarget.com | 252981 | 20% |
| windowsphone.com | 299667 | 16% |
Even smaller ‘news’ sites like Search Engine Roundtable claimed to see a significant increase in their organic traffic.
It’s all speculative at the moment but it’s thought that the update to Google Trends last week may have contributed to the increased visibility of news sites.
As with all Google updates, Google always states the same information which you can read here.
Summary
If you publish news in your industry, you may have benefited last week but if not, this algorithm should see no major changes in your rankings, everything else being equal.
Have you been hit by a Google update and need to recover? Contact me on 0419 943 234 or email will@willmullins.com.au to have a chat about your site.
Will Mullins