Have you tried every method to improve your website’s SEO, only to find the results disappointing? Google also improves its SEO systems from time to time to optimize search results. But how does Google’s SEO work? Website management is similar to solving a problem: you need to identify the right issue before improving the situation.
What is a Core Update?
Around 2018, Google made changes to its search algorithms and systems. Previous changes were often less noticeable, with limited movement in website rankings. This update caused more obvious ranking changes for some websites and could also affect Google Discover. These broad changes are called core updates, and their purpose is to ensure search content remains relevant.
In simple terms, a core update re-evaluates website content, including the relevance between titles and content. It can also raise the ranking of websites that were previously undervalued, improving SEO results.
For example, imagine you created a list of the 100 most popular movies in 2018. If you refreshed the list in 2020, the ranking might be completely different and new movies might appear. The standards of evaluation change over time, so the updated list changes too.
A ranking drop does not always mean your website has a problem. You do not need to rush into changing everything. What you need is to evaluate the quality of your website content.
How can a website be recognized as high quality by Google?
Content quality is subjective, so Google provides a series of questions for website owners to review their content.
Ask whether the content contains original information, reporting, research or analysis. Does it provide a substantial, complete and comprehensive description of the topic? Does it offer deep insight or interesting information? If it uses other sources, does it avoid simple copying and provide meaningful added value and originality?
Also review the relationship between title and content. Is the title relevant? Is it exaggerated or shocking? Would you share or recommend the page to a friend? Would you expect the content to appear in a magazine, book or other professional medium?
After quality, assess credibility
Can readers trust the content? Does it cite sources or explain background where appropriate? Does the website leave a credible impression? Are the facts easy to verify, and are any claims incorrect?
Next, assess presentation and production
Check whether the content has spelling or style issues, whether it is carefully produced or rushed, whether the same content appears on multiple websites, whether excessive advertising distracts from the main content, and whether the page layout works properly on mobile devices.
Finally, assess competitiveness
Compared with other pages in search results, does the content offer substantial value? Does it seem designed to serve visitors’ genuine interests, or only to guess what might rank higher in search engines? What is the purpose of the content: public value or only SEO ranking?
In addition to self-review, you can ask people around you to evaluate your website content. You can also study which pages were affected most and which searches are most popular. Careful review helps you understand how to improve content quality in response to these questions.
Reference: What webmasters should know about Google’s core updates, Google Search Central Blog
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates
Translation supported by AI.