- \n
- Website speed and performance<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Absence of intrusive interstitials on the page<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Proper website security<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
You can analyze your website and receive guidance on fixing these and similar issues by going to Google Search Console, which now has a lot more UI-centered reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alternatively, Page Speed Insights and Lighthouse are still at your service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winners & Losers of the Update<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
According to Semrush<\/a>, the 5 industries that had the highest positive ranking fluctuation were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Food & Beverage<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Law & Government<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Internet & Telecom<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Shopping<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Entertainment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Whereas the 5 industries that were hit hard by the update were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Business<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Food & Beverage<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Travel<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Internet & Telecom<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Home & Garden<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
As you can see, 2 website categories made it on both lists (internet and food), suggesting some industry-specific changes that are yet to be discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other than that, medium-sized businesses <\/strong>(up to 500K monthly traffic) were affected the most across all categories, both positively and negatively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, a number of global websites that held solid SERPs have seen a drop in rankings too. Some examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Tripadvisor<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- YouTube<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Yelp<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Quora<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Medium<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Whether this shift is temporary or permanent is yet to be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/image3-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIs it a Downfall of large UGC Websites?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Observing the losers of the core update, one could see a pattern – there are a lot of UGC websites among them<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Websites such as YouTube or Tripadvisor are entirely populated with user-generated content (short: UGC). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does it actually suggest that Google has lost trust in discussion-type websites in favor of industry expert resources?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Perhaps, it\u2019s too strong of a statement, given that niche-specific websites (communities, forums, blogs) were not affected as strongly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe that means that Google starts to favor niche-targeted resources in SERPs instead of the ones that discuss everything. That\u2019s something we will probably uncover in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Product Reviews Update<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As the name suggests, this update was targeted towards websites that submit product reviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it didn\u2019t affect most of us, some website owners claim to have lost 80% of their organic traffic because of the update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What Google does here is trying to favor resources with original and insightful product reviews instead of affiliate marketplaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u2019ve published review quality guidelines<\/a> that you can read right here, but let\u2019s just look at some of the things that make up an insightful review:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- It should compare the product in question with competing products<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The comparison and overall product evaluation should be measured by some objective and quantifiable KPIs whenever it\u2019s possible<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The use cases and target audience of the product should be explicitly mentioned<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- The key factors that might stimulate purchase decision<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Have you found all of these points to be fairly straightforward? So did we.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet, the real reason why Google made these guidelines more specific is that there are a lot of websites that rely on product summaries, thin content, and affiliate links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Google\u2019s mind, these \u201caffiliate directories\u201d don\u2019t provide enough value to the audience, and thus their rankings might have dropped since the update.#<\/p>\n\n\n\n
P.S. – just to make it clear, Google doesn\u2019t combat affiliate links. Instead, the goal is to reward rich and well-researched content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spam Update<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Google has confirmed that the 2nd part of their Spam Update was executed on June 29th. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Big G has simply enhanced its spam detection AI algorithm, but the rules of the game haven\u2019t changed much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So here\u2019s what search engines normally classify as spam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- Hidden text and\/or backlinks<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Links spam<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Doorway pages<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Phishing <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Malware (virus software)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Auto-generated \/ plagiarized content<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re not involved in any of this – you\u2019re on the safe side. If you are – then Google will try harder to drop your website from its index.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Question of the Day: What\u2019s About Links?!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As stated above, niche-oriented blogs and forums don\u2019t seem to be affected by the update as much as \u201call-in-one\u201d websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means that backlinks from those targeted platforms don\u2019t lose their value and remain useful for SERP gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once again, Google is pointing out that black hat<\/a> link schemes will be punished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nonetheless, that\u2019s not what we are advocating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Services from Crowdo<\/a> remain legit and reliable, and the Google update didn\u2019t seem to impact our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To give a complete picture, we\u2019ve analyzed our clients\u2019 keyword ranking over the last month and concluded the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- 59% of our clients have seen an improvement in keyword ranking, despite the update<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 27% have retained their initial ranking (e.g., no increase and no decrease)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 14% have experienced a significant drop in rankings (most likely due to UI issues and thin content)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crowdo.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/image2-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAll in all, we are happy to say that our link building services bring positive outcomes and remain relevant (take that, big G!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
As always, Sherlock Holmes is needed to connect the dots between the latest Google updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vagueness and ambiguity are not something new for SEO specialists, yet there\u2019s no reason to panic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Follow best content practices, build quality links<\/a> and improve your UX – this advice may sound simple stupid, but it works like a charm even in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if your rankings have dropped – don\u2019t rush to change too many things, especially about your link profile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Be patient because you might find that in a few weeks from now, your rankings will be back to where they were. Keep an eye on your competitors – they might be in the same shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And\u2026 if you suddenly disavow hundreds of links – this will look suspicious and may cause another rank drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you want a team of experienced professionals to figure out all this mess, Crowdo offers a full stack SEO service<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We start with an audit of your website and propose a 3-month plan to boost your traffic and keyword ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n