Update Maverick : Google Updates and SERP Changes - July 2019 - Google Search and SEO forum at WebmasterWorld

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Update Maverick : Google Updates and SERP Changes - July 2019

Malanje

3:09 pm on Jul 1, 2019 (gmt 0)

System: The following message was cut out of thread at: https://www.webmasterworld.com/google/4947706.htm [webmasterworld.com] by goodroi - 1:17 pm on Jul 1, 2019 (utc -5)

Many advocate that to combat reliance on visits through Google Search you need to build a brand. Obviously it is not enough.

Dimitri

3:52 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

Our website will ping the search engines that the sitemap has been updated.

Do you observe that Googlebot is really fetching your sitemap, following this ping? and do you check when Googlebot is effectively visiting your new page?

SweetPotato

3:52 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

"churning out a lot of shallow low-quality content at a fast rate"
Can you explain about this one? Any documentation?

southernguy

4:11 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

@Aristole Google has created algorithmic penalties as a counter-measure against people who try to "game"

Examples of what the algorithm might look for are:
-- too much keyword targeting
-- too much artificial link-building
-- churning out a lot of shallow low-quality content at a fast rate
-- subtle signs that the person is posing as more fo an expert and authority than he os she actually is

And its not working.

I have a few authoritative sites that have hemorrhaged traffic since last August. One of them I feel I improved greatly (no search rank improvement).

I could not sit and wait for Google to change their algorithm so I began doing those key things you mention above that technically should be penalized but Google seems to like it. Sad that it had to come to this using BH tactics but no sense going against the current. I'm sure my sites using less unethical SEO methods will eventually tank (I expect them to) but at least this way I can afford to feed my family.

I personally believe that whats ranking now is pitiful even my own sites.

As they say "When in Rome do as the Romans Do"

EditorialGuy

4:21 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

Examples of what the algorithm might look for are:
-- too much keyword targeting
-- too much artificial link-building
-- churning out a lot of shallow low-quality content at a fast rate
-- subtle signs that the person is posing as more fo an expert and authority than he os she actually is

Isn't it possible that Google has simply neutralized such techiques by ignoring the signals that they send? If so, that wouldn't be an "algorithmic penalty," it would simply mean that traditional SEO ploys aren't working as well as they did in the past.

whoa182

4:32 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

On the one hand, I agree with Aristotle that it seems like an algorithmic penalty because traffic is just flat, no growth at all. When it seems that a "penalty" has been lifted, I see natural upwards growth over time.

But then, I see the exact same rises and drops as some big sites who have millions of views a month and not just thousands. It's just the scale of the rises and drops were different, but they happened with the same core updates.

I feel completely lost and have no idea what to do anymore. But to answer some of Aristotle's points:

1. I write naturally and the only targetting I do is use the google autosuggest or autocomplete to find keyword phrases and use them as H1 and partially in other headers. I've never thought about KW density ever. And never needed to before..

2. Never built any links. Any links I do get seem to be from forums and new sites with new bloggers with no authority. Does asking people for links really work? JM suggested in a video (and I'm paraphrasing) just reach out and say: "I have a good site, you have a good site, and we have the same goal, maybe you could link to me." People will do something for nothing these days? All I can see coming from this approach is rejection in the health niche.

3. About 170 posts in a year (either newly published or rewritten). I also target topics that are not covered at all or covered properly. So, I would often rank in the top 10 within minutes after publishing. I can't prove my pages are quality here, but after 16 years of experience and research, I know my stuff.

A few things I can think of which might be issues for me:

- I discovered close to 200 Soft 404's created by Wordfence plugin (now 175). I only have about 170 actual blog posts. But the soft 404 pages were not indexed, so does it matter? Since I put up a URL parameter and deleted WF, it now shows over 1000 pages with the Wordfence URL but with a proper canonical tag. Still waiting for it all the WF soft 404 pages to resolve.

- I have a rel="canonical" tag on my blog spot to my WordPress site. Before recovery in March, these backlinks pointing to Blogspot disappeared in search console. They appeared again a few weeks later but didn't seem to negatively affect rankings. Many of the links are from Blogspot blogroll list on the sidebar. That was what people used to do back in 2006.

- I am not well known in the "____ community." I tend to keep to myself and primarily focused on writing content. Most of the well-known people are all on Youtube and live in the US. I'm not in the US and don't do YT... I'm just better at writing than being on camera. If people were to ask who I am.. most probably wouldn't know. I guess this is a problem.

I've started to join forums and post every day.. just helping people. I'm also commenting on other people's blogs. This is probably gonna take a while...

[edited by: whoa182 at 4:41 pm (utc) on Jul 7, 2019]

aristotle

4:34 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

"churning out a lot of shallow low-quality content at a fast rate"
Can you explain about this one? Any documentation?

This would be a variation of the old "content farm" strategy generally associated with Google's well-known Panda penalty.

aristotle

4:48 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

the only targetting I do is use the google autosuggest or autocomplete to find keyword phrases

Well in my opinion google may not like that. Because it could mean that you only write articles about topics that you think have the potential to bring in a lot of traffic. That's actually what I meant by "too much" keyword targeting.

whoa182

5:00 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

I know plenty of sites that are using this method to find topics to write about and are doing amazingly well. They also happen to be hobby related sites, none of them in health.

I'm not saying that I use it word for word, but to get topic ideas. And I only pretty much only go for keywords that are under 250 US searches a month. Usually, I'd go for any between 10-250. So I wasn't exactly expecting massive amounts of traffic lol... but as you probably know, you would start ranking for shorter variations if relevant that would add a lot more.

equidistant

5:07 pm on Jul 7, 2019 (gmt 0)

Well in my opinion google may not like that. Because it could mean that you only write articles about topics that you think have the potential to bring in a lot of traffic. That's actually what I meant by "too much" keyword targeting.

So looks like the new SEO is to make sure your titles are not SEO optimized. Keep the titles confusing and convoluted instead of to the point. And write about topics that no one wants to read about. :)

Or perhaps, 80% non-keyword focused articles that no one is searching for, 20% keyword specific articles that people are searching for.