Google: how can a site regain its position after an update of the main algorithm

Several times a year, Google makes major changes to the algorithm. Such updates are called core updates – an update of the main algorithm, Google usually officially confirms them.

Google compares the algorithm with a list of movies to watch. Suppose in 2015 you compiled a list of 100 films. In 2019, you update it – not because the films that are already in it are not good enough, but because there are many new wonderful films that are also worth watching. And many of them want to see more than the old ones, so they will immediately go to the top of the list. 

So it is with sites: over time, there are many good ones that should rightfully be located in the TOP of the issue. Therefore, Google does not advise sites affected by updates to make major changes. Instead, you should focus on creating truly high-quality content. After all, the ultimate goal of the algorithm is to rank higher sites with good content.

Content Checklist

To understand how good the site’s content is, Google invites webmasters to answer the following questions:

Content Quality Issues

• Does the content contain original information – reports, studies or analysis?
• Does the site content fully cover the topics described?
• Is there non-obvious information on the site obtained in the course of analysis or research?
• If a resource takes content from other sites, does it just rewrite it or add something from itself?
• The title and title of the page summarize the information given in the text?
• There is no exaggerated and shocking information in the title and title?
• Would you like to bookmark the page yourself or share it with your friends?
• Do you think the content from your page could be seen in a print magazine, encyclopedia or book?

Expertise Questions

• Are there any spelling or stylistic errors in the text?
• Has the content been worked out enough, or was it released in a hurry?
• Is the content original or released on several platforms at once, including yours?
• The page does not have a large number of advertisements distracting from the main content?
• Is content displayed normally on mobile devices?

Questions to compare

• Comparing with other pages in the search, is the content valuable?
• Content meets user requests or is it based only on knowledge, what will be better ranked in search?

Google advises you to answer these questions yourself and ask them to someone else, someone who is not directly related to your site, but who you can trust.

Guide for Assessors and EAT

Google sometimes advises referring to a guide for assessors – those who analyze the quality of pages, and whose ratings the company takes into account when developing the next algorithm. In their analysis, assessors rely on EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness – Expertise, Authority and Reliability). Google believes that, knowing by what parameters the quality of resources is estimated, it will be easier for webmasters to understand what needs to be worked on.

Google warns that no action after updating the algorithm can guarantee the return of the site to the TOP. However, content enhancements always have a positive effect on dynamics.