Google’s been acting strange with all this volatility. Do you think it’s smart to update content right now? Or should I just wait? My traffic has really dropped, and I’m losing ranking for a lot of keywords. The last time this happened, I waited it out, but now I’m not sure if that’s the best move.
It’s usually safer to wait when things are shaky with Google. Updating too often can sometimes confuse things even more. But if traffic keeps going down, maybe try small changes to see how it responds.
I think it’s better to update after things calm down.
Updating during these changes might help improve your ranking, though. You never know.
I’d just wait it out. No need to make changes unless your content is really outdated or there’s a bigger issue.
Hold off on making any changes right now. Wait 2-3 weeks and let things settle before evaluating what needs fixing. Also, check for any manual penalties in Google Search Console. These fluctuations happen across the board, no matter the niche. Take note of what you’d like to tweak, but remember, changes take time to reflect in rankings.
There are ups and downs to updating during a Google shake-up.
First, the downs: trying to ‘fix’ things mid-update might create more doubt. You might think your update didn’t help because rankings didn’t bounce back, but maybe they would have improved on their own. It just gets confusing.
- You may believe you know what’s hurting your rankings, but you could be wrong, and your site might’ve recovered without intervention.
- It’s hard to know what Google doesn’t like if you make changes mid-update. Post-update SEO can get messy.
Now, the ups:
- Your page might actually bounce up during the update.
- Updates can offer a chance for your page to reset and move up in rankings without being held back by its past performance.
What to consider:
It might be a good time to update pages that haven’t performed well in the past. You could also fix any content issues like keyword cannibalization. Sometimes, fixing those things during an update can help.
How to reduce volatility on your pages:
Make sure you’re using meta descriptions that Google likes, instead of letting Google create them on the fly. A lot of the bouncing around happens when Google isn’t sure how people interact with your site.
If your meta description changes randomly (like if Google is making them up), it throws things off. For example:
- Maybe your page ranked 9th and got a lot of clicks with one description.
- Then, it moved to 7th, but with a different description and fewer clicks.
Google might think your page was better off in 9th with the old description.
Pages that let Google write the descriptions tend to jump around more because the descriptions aren’t optimized.
@KarmaKnight
Thanks a lot for all the detailed tips! I’ll try out some of your suggestions and see what happens.