On the 1st of August Google introduced an update which is now believed to have been fully rolled out.
Whilst Google roll out many updates throughout each year, this particular update has caused some buzz.
But just what was the update and what does it mean for you and your website?
The Update
Google has referred to this update as a broad worldwide update to their core algorithm.
General reports currently inform us that it was largely focused on health, medical sites and any websites that fit into the YMYL category.
The YMYL category for websites are any sites that impact Your Money or Your Life – these include those that impart advice on major life decisions, financial advice, sell products, are involved with gambling, provide health advice or involve insurance or investments.
Because of its believed impact on health and medical websites, this update is being referred to as the Medic Update – however, Google has not confirmed its explicit focus on medical and health.
Google has made it clear that there is nothing you can do to ‘fix’ your website should it be impacted by this update. Simply focusing on providing a great website experience, brilliant content and a useful website should ensure that you don’t fall foul of the update and suffer any long term effects.
They also state that many sites will see benefits from this update. That’s not to say that they are better than others, simply that they were under valued and therefore under rewarded previously.
What does this mean for my Website?
If your website has an impact on people’s money or their life – whether that be in offering advice, selling products or encouraging a certain type of act – then your website could have been impacted by this update.
It is worthwhile checking your website’s data in Google Analytics and Google Search Console (previously known as Webmaster Tools), should you see changes in your key indicators then you may have been impacted by this update.
Naturally, it is normal to see fluctuations in your key indicators on a month on month basis so don’t be too alarmed. Simply keep an eye on things and continue to take positive steps to improve your website.
Should your website have been affected by this update then there is nothing you can do as a quick fix. Instead you should take this opportunity to review how your website is perceived online.
In fact, whether your website has been impacted by this update or not, you should always make efforts to improve the user experience, content and branding. These can all help improve the trust that your website holds and how Google scores your website.
Should you wish to review your website to ensure it has a great user experience, useful and unique content, and ultimately ensure that it is sending out great trust signals to users and search engines alike, then simply contact Digital Nachos today.
Published: 15th Aug 2018