Google Updates and SERP Changes - August 2021

[goodroi]

As usual, it's both entertaining and frustrating when monitoring Google's SERPs, and the performance of our sites. Google's core algorithm updates have proved interesting, to say the least.

First we had Google Core Update May 23 - June 3, 2021 [webmasterworld.com] referenced in Google Updates and SERP Changes - June 2021 [webmasterworld.com]

Before long, in July, we see a Google Core Update July 1, 2021 [webmasterworld.com] which created much more frustration and angst, with some successes, which we referenced in theGoogle Updates and SERP Changes - July 2021 [webmasterworld.com]

Without much delay we heard of a Google and Link Spam: Qualify Links for Affiliate Links or Sponsored Guest Posts Update [webmasterworld.com].

And during July we had an interesting question How long for Google to Index a New Website [webmasterworld.com]
Did you see the news that we might get a sneak look at Google's ranking algorithm. Google "About This Result" in SERPs Indicates Ranking Info [webmasterworld.com]
Most of us know about the Google search operators, and here's an overview of SEO search operators [webmasterworld.com]
Plus lots of other Google search and SEO topics [webmasterworld.com].

What are your observations on the algorithm updates/changes to the SERPs?

[ichthyous]

They are both total useless garbage.

Hmm, first time I have heard that. I always thought Ahrefs in particular was highly respected for the size of its link index. I suspect Moz is less accurate, but I can't say that for sure. I don't pay either as I find their monthly fees to be a bit out there, and I dropped SEMrush last year. So how is current domain authority established if all of these sites are simply garbage? Google doesn't provide any feedback on DA, and certainly does not provide an accurate backlink count. So much chatter on here is about Domain Authority effect on ranking, so this IS a discussion about Google in the end.

[ichthyous]

On another topic...big drop in traffic again this morning which is getting worse as the day progresses. Search down 29%, direct traffic down 33%, USA down 32%, UK down 16%. This reverses weeks of increased traffic and coincides with a sudden loss of quite a few top3 terms this weekend. Anyone else seeing a big drop this weekend? Hopefully this will revert

[Martin Ice Web]

@ichthyous, we dad a very good thursday and friday. Friday at about 2pm traffic changed to no conversion traffic. on saturday traffic dropped and it last till today. It got even worse today.
And all this besides the fact that we gained back hunderts of #1 positions. we outrank ebay + amazon but it doesn´t count if google routs users with buying intention to their ads.
Meanwhile i try to find out what sources the digital natives customers use to get information and that realy is instagram (and amazon) but not google. It is time to put all the work into social media instead of google.

[mzb44]

which was not about Google but about Ahrefs change (drop) of 17 spots in domain rank for my site, while Moz stayed the same.

I think it's like what I've written before.

Different methodology in calculating those scores and evaluating links.

Also one might be better at crawling than the other.

Or some websites have blocked the crawler of one of these tools but not the other. So some links will be hidden from one service.

But again it's extremely important to never lose sight that all these are third party tool companies. Trying to closely match the score changes using these tools with google updates and rankings is not something worth your time.

PS: It's also extremely super easy to fake these tool scores. I can get you 5-10 paid links now that I can almost 100% guarantee Google is totally ignoring but your "DA", "DR" etc. shown by these tools will go up above like 70+.

[mzb44]

Hmm, first time I have heard that. I always thought Ahrefs in particular was highly respected for the size of its link index.

These tools are useful for competitor research, backlink research etc.

They are not useless at all if people use them with common sense and don't just look at the stats they show (scores, link numbers) etc. as if they actually mean anything in and themselves without any context.

Google doesn't provide any feedback on DA, and certainly does not provide an accurate backlink count. So much chatter on here is about Domain Authority effect on ranking, so this IS a discussion about Google in the end.

This confusion comes from the fact people use the term "domain authority" with multiple meanings.

First, "Domain Authority" is the name of a metric used by the tool company Moz to measure the "link power" of a website.

Domain authority - in non-Moz context - is also an abstraction people use when talking about the perceived authoritativeness (usually link authority) of a website. ex. "The New York Times is outranking everyone because of its domain authority". - It's just a term people use when they mean "big sites with a lot of links". It's just an abstraction at best.

Note that Google does not officially have a metric called Domain Authority, so there is nothing for them to clarify or comment on.

Problem is a lot of people confuse the two. This also gives Google employees the opportunity to reply to questions in bad faith when they contain the term 'domain authority'.

[ichthyous]

Meanwhile i try to find out what sources the digital natives customers use to get information and that realy is instagram (and amazon) but not google. It is time to put all the work into social media instead of google.

This depends on your product. Instagram works for cosmetics, clothing, shoes, and lower priced items appealing to a young demographic...it doesn't work for my niche at all and certainly not if the demographic you are trying to reach is older. On the other hand, anything has to be better than Google Adwords, which is basically just complete garbage traffic at $5 per click.

[yollo03]

I have a different view on moz and ahrefs. I think they do provide an estimation of the domain rating/authority. The problem is that it's not that google uses something much different, there are algorithms that penalize websites for whatever reason. So even if you have high domain rating it doesn't mean you receive traffic in accordance. My theory is that from a certain domain rating (which is very high) you are less prone to such penalties.

[ichthyous]

I have a different view on moz and ahrefs. I think they do provide an estimation of the domain rating/authority.

Of course they do, ahrefs has a huge database of links indexed

The problem is that it's not that google uses something much different, there are algorithms that penalize websites for whatever reason. So even if you have high domain rating it doesn't mean you receive traffic in accordance. My theory is that from a certain domain rating (which is very high) you are less prone to such penalties.

Exactly...my site was very stable and not rocking and rolling on a daily basis until March of this year. It appears that I may have lost a ton of image links to my site at this time due to a change in my image urls. There are 301 redirects in place for all the images, but it seems that Google isn't counting them and it took almost 9 months to reflect in the images being dropped from the index. This coincides with a massive almost overnight drop in image ranking and a more than 50% drop in image traffic in June. Suddenly now my site is also 17 spots lower in Ahrefs too. I think Moz is not as accurate nor does it update as often.

[BushyTop]

Interested to hear on here, does anyone actually think that the page insights tool on Core web vitals is accurate. For months now our field data doesnt match our lab data and you would think they were at least similar, but not the same. With the pending PEx update incoming - its concerning me.

[golderberger]

Someone from Google closed the traffic tap again on Sunday.

[biggy123]

Hi All,

Not sure what to do... Since 25-26-27 august traffic to our site (vacation / daily offers, affiliate) dropped by at least 50%. The reason is that all of our top search results dropped rank significantly. We did not change anything to our site and hardly used any linkbuilding. So i doubt spam links could be the problem, but since the latest update is about spam links I'm not sure anymore... Traffic was growing over the last months. People staying at our site for several minutes so quality/content should be fine. Now, four days later and still not seeing any recovery. This is on a .NL domain and NL traffic.

I know no one really knows waht might be the cause but what should I do besides checking all basics? I can't find anything wrong.

Thanks!

[ichthyous]

Yep traffic has been off since the 27th for me...USA traffic down 64% at 10am. Also seeing my home and most important landing pages get whacked again...down 20%-30%. My ranking is stable today, but have only recovered about 4 of the 13 top three ranking terms I lost last week.

The June patterns are reasserting themselves...i.e. major losses in landing page traffic and english language traffic replaced by junk traffic from countries I don't do business with...Tunisia, Kenya, Congo, India, Iran, Taiwan...it's a joke.

I am beginning to think that this may have something to do with an overzealous link spam filter. I have recently gotten new bunches of new links from partner sites where my products are being marketed. These are all very high authority sites, much higher than mine...in the 80+ range. I suspect if too many links are discovered too quickly from the same sites a link spam penalty kicks in.

[golderberger]

@ichthyous: im having the same useless traffic from similar countries Iran, India :/

this is not a spam filter or anything. it is just google maximizing their profits and sending us useless non converting traffic.

[RedBar]

Welcome to WebmasterWorld biggy123

I'm not sure how to describe August's traffic pattern for my global site, ups /downs, yo-yoing, roller coaster would seem to fit the best. The traffic to this site has been much higher than I anticipated for an August, in fact I have to go back to March of this year to find higher traffic and it was the third week of March when I first saw a noticeable downturn ... Yep, industry holiday month August has beaten April, May, June and July!

Our UK-focussed hotel site has broken ALL its previous 20 year-old records and is up 121% over July. Lots of staycations, restaurants full, wet sales excellent, almost fully-booked for September already ... During the various lockdowns the UK had I did loads of site tweaks, rankings are superb, great links from all booking sites and awards from TA etc.

It's biggest and closest competitor has failed miserably and is now up for sale!

Conclusion? Global very iffy, UK local sensational:-)

[ichthyous]

@RedBar My UK traffic generally remains very high too, and I am getting more sales inquiries from UK and AU customers than from USA...that should tell you something. Google is demolishing our USA traffic because that's where a lot of the sales are. Unfortunately US dollar is still high and so my UK customers aren't buying anything these days. The Aussies have also slowed, but still buying.

[golderberger]

interesting read: [zyppy.com...]

[yollo03]

Interesting article on AI's content writing (compared). Less relevant to the google updates but an interesting read. Is anyone here used AI for content writing and ranked well? [link-assistant.com...]

[BushyTop]

SEMrush spikes again this morning in the UK

[yollo03]

it spikes every week now, maybe it's the new norm. One week you are up, next week you are down.

[Martin Ice Web]

Yes, serps are still not bad enough.

[renatovieira]

On my side, since yesterday everything has been going very badly. Drop followed by drops...

[ichthyous]

Yes, the traffic has been very unstable and poor quality. Huge drop in my home page and some landing pages since the weekend, USA traffic down 30% today at 11:30am. It usually ticks up by end of day somewhat, with an odd burst at 10pm and later...all insane manipulated traffic patterns. Meanwhile, plenty of traffic from countries I don't serve. I had an inquiry for shipping to Kenya this morning but almost nothing from the USA for weeks.

[MayankParmar]

Indexing slower than usual for anyone else?

[yollo03]

Last week's articles were indexed in less than 2 minutes. I didn't publish anything this week yet.

[rayankhaled]

i am facing a problem with indexing new articles

[yollo03]

GSC wasn't updated in over 24 hours. Is anyone experiencing the same issue?

[engine]

Google Updates and SERP Changes - September 2021 [webmasterworld.com]