Google Core Updates and website preparation
Here's a comprehensive summary of the article about Google Core Updates and website preparation.
Key Points Overview:
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- Google Core Updates are major algorithm changes affecting all websites
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- They occur 2-4 times per year
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- They're designed to improve search quality and deliver more relevant, authoritative content
The article breaks down preparation into three main phases:
1. Before Updates:
- Monitor Search Console performance
- Review and refresh content
- Address technical SEO issues
- Enhance user experience
- Focus on Core Web Vitals:
- LCP (Largest Contentful Paint): Target under 2.5 seconds
- FID (First Input Delay): Target under 100 milliseconds
- CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift): Target under 0.1
2. During Updates:
- Track daily organic traffic changes
- Monitor keyword ranking shifts
- Watch impression and click-through rates
- Follow Google's official channels
- Monitor SEO community discussions
3. After Updates:
- Analyze traffic and ranking changes in detail
- Compare metrics before and after
- Focus on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
- Make necessary improvements based on findings
- Update thin or outdated content
- Improve technical aspects if needed
Ongoing Best Practices:
- Conduct regular content audits (every 3 months)
- Perform weekly speed checks
- Test mobile-friendliness monthly
- Crawl site monthly for indexing issues
- Continuously gather and implement user feedback
The article emphasizes that recovery from negative impacts takes time, and content quality improvements are essential on your small business website, for better performance, in future updates.