Google regularly rolls out algorithm update and websites are often affected by specific penalty effects. For this reason, we may see multiple website disappear from 1st or 2nd page. They could drop to much lower pages or be banned completely from Google search rankings. If this happens to us, we should do things to make sure that we are able to regain our positions. If this situation happens to us, we should know whether all websites in the page is affected. We should check our direct competitors and find out how they fare. Obviously, a major algorithm update isn’t a bad thing for everyone. This allows some websites to gain higher positions, because the replaced removed websites.
If we have been affected by the update, we should be honest with ourselves. As an example, we may intentionally game the system. There are various ways that violate Google’s algorithm and we may not be aware of that. This could happen because our previous website developer or SEO consultant implements things that violate Google’s rules. When an algorithm is updated, the value of each link is re-evaluated; some no longer has values; while others may have increased values. Google will check any website that’s linked to our website and each link will be checked to see whether it provides meaningful detail.
The problem may not be related with our website. Some websites that provide inbound links for our website could lose much of their link-sharing power, due to various considerations. As an example, our website could enjoy site-wide links from other websites, because our link is placed in the footer. It means that we could potentially get hundreds or even thousands of links from just one website. Google may de-value these links and only one website from the main page is counted. Another problem is that inbound links could be associated most about our main keywords.
This could be considered normal, but Google algorithm considers it more natural if our links are related to a wider keywords base. If we have only a small list of keywords for our inbound links, we should also consider adding some long tail keywords or different, but related keywords. It should be noted that links with completely unrelated keywords, such as “organic food” for a car engine maintenance website may indicate spamming attempt. If we have been affected by recent algorithm update, we should consider whether there are some inappropriate on page factors that we need to consider.
It is important to investigate whether we add too many keywords in our page. Instead of blaming Google, we should be honest with ourselves and try to improve our website. Misdirected anger won’t improve our situation and it is better to investigate our situation. There could be factors that we need to improve. If our condition has been improved, we should wait and pray that with the next algorithm update, our website will return to the proper location.