It would seem that Google is doing everything to make users comfortable, so why do some companies suffer from this?
Google is constantly improving its algorithms, which are monitored by SEO experts from around the world. However, even the most advanced companies that have taken millions of dollars out of their organic traffic can sink after another update of the algorithm.
This happened to the CCN - cryptocurrency news site. Once he reported that their organic visibility had fallen by 90%, and as a result they closed.
Don't underestimate the complexity of Google’s algorithms.
Later it turned out that organic CCN traffic was caused not by Google’s random act, but by the fact that the entire business depended only on organics from two pages. If your business depends on organic traffic with 1-2 pages, then you play a dangerous game.
How to become more resistant to updates of Google algorithms?
Google is a monopolist
Admittedly, Google is an unhealthy monopoly in managing a network, and it is only growing.
Let's look at some examples:
• Publishers were more or less forced to adopt AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages Technology) in order to have any organic visibility, which is essentially the foundation of Google.
• Google cleans and publishes content from other websites in search results, while removing clicks.
• A growing share of information requests are now responding to search results (without going to the source site of the answer).
• Google can override custom canonical tags and index another version of the page.
• Google rewrites page titles and meta descriptions to better fit the user's intent.
• Local businesses, job ads, hotels, flights — everything is now handled by Google products.
Google actually took the position that, in general, websites cannot be trusted. Instead of paying attention to how well these sites are well structured, effective and indexing them, Google tries to get around these problems by standardizing the search engine experience on the Internet and keeping you on its platform.
This is all well and good from the point of view of user experience, but from an SEO point of view, we get less and less from the source of traffic, on which many websites terribly depend.
The problem is that Google has no real competition when it comes to search, and this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.
How can I minimize the impact of algorithm updates? Council to SEO
We share some ways to customize sites so that they are more resistant to updates to Google’s algorithms and are less dependent on Google’s organic traffic.
1. Create great content
Sometimes you don’t need to dwell on all sorts of Google updates, just write good content. This is the most important rule.
Updates should be taken into account in a long-term search strategy, rather than forcing us to turn around and take a series of short-term actions to try to capitalize on new opportunities or regain lost ratings.
Invest in netlenku - in quality content.
2. Reasonable long-term strategy, short-term tactics
What if you have already encountered the same problem as CCN?
If you are still afloat, you should think:
• How you approach the search.
• How can you implement a strategy that has a longer lifespan and less risk.
For example, CCN had to plan a strategy to resolve the following issues:
• How to reduce the proportion of organic traffic on the most popular pages, focusing on the price of Bitcoin.
• How to reduce their dependence on organic traffic by generating traffic from other sources.
• An overview of their approach to link building, syndication and redirection.
This list may be only the tip of the iceberg, but most likely, CNN had more problems than it seems.
Yes, Google should be responsible and should work to communicate more transparently with the search community, but this does not justify the weak foundations of the publisher on which he built the business.
3. Be selective about who you work with and why
We need to be more selective regarding the websites we decided to work with and the businesses we work with.
You need to evaluate potential companies and their sites by asking questions such as:
• How much does a website and business depend on a single revenue stream?
• How volatile is the main source of business income?
• How open and flexible is the business for adopting and implementing new ideas, recognizing and correcting mistakes, and shaping its strategy in a rapidly changing environment?
• Does the business have a workable long-term vision, and can its websites still be profitable in the foreseeable future?
We need to better understand the fundamentals and longevity of the business in which we are involved, and conduct due diligence.
4. Take care of returning visitors and create a brand
Not every business is able to appreciate the opportunities that organic traffic can provide them, besides sales. You need to create a brand that will be remembered and will return buyers to you, even if the next Gogle algorithm will shift your website to the n-th page of issue!
5. Cooperate with other departments
The future of SEO will only be strengthened in cooperation with other channels of promotion.
It is even more important that the optimizers cooperate and understand the problems of other marketing and business functions with which it is closely related.
SEO intersects with contextual advertising, SMM, UX, PR, development.
Thus, search teams need to take a broader look at their place in the organization, build strong working relationships with other teams and work with them to create a healthier foundation for the business and reduce their dependence on organic traffic and its fluctuations.
Therefore, the company Futureinapps develops websites, applications and their integrated promotion. We know that only an integrated approach can develop any business up to heaven!
