I give up with Google... what am I missing?

General
1

So I updated one of my top-ranking pages just to remove a couple of dead links and add some fresh ones for readers.

It was sitting at #4 on Google and #1 on Bing before the update.

Now? Still #1 on Bing, but it dropped to #15 on Google.

I’m at a loss. I don’t know what Google wants anymore.

Should I just start sharing this page on forums everywhere? UGC seems to be what Google loves to rank these days.

I’ve been blogging for almost 20 years, and I’m completely clueless now about what Google is looking for.

2

Yeah, Google is killing small publishers. I think it’s all about squeezing us to spend more on ads.

3

winsteizsty said:
Yeah, Google is killing small publishers. I think it’s all about squeezing us to spend more on ads.

Exactly, it’s all about making us pay more for ads.

4

winsteizsty said:
Yeah, Google is killing small publishers. I think it’s all about squeezing us to spend more on ads.

This has been going on since they went public. Once shareholders came into the picture, small publishers got pushed aside.

5

Honestly, I feel bad for anyone relying on blogging full-time now. It’s such a mess with traffic all over the place. Probably time to pivot to something else.

6

Curry said:
Honestly, I feel bad for anyone relying on blogging full-time now. It’s such a mess with traffic all over the place. Probably time to pivot to something else.

What do you think the solution is? I feel like I’m going in circles trying to get any momentum.

7

@J.cole2
Brands need to diversify. You can’t just rely on websites anymore.

8

@J.cole2
You should look into content pillars.

9

NooserMooker said:
@J.cole2
You should look into content pillars.

Can you explain more about content pillars?

10

You might need to check a few things. If you just replaced dead links with new ones, I’m not sure why the ranking dropped.

But if you changed anything like H1 or H2 tags, the Meta Title, or added content that Google doesn’t think is helpful, that could be the reason. Have your competitors made any improvements? Did you change the permalink or lose any big backlinks?

Start by looking at these basics. Hope this helps.

11

@CharlesWrites
I didn’t touch anything else. Just replaced a few dead links.

13

Flippa said:

I’ve been holding out for 18 months with Google. At this point, it feels like a waste of time.

14

It’s all about getting you to buy ads at this point.

15

You might still be focusing too much on keywords. Try looking into ‘Entity SEO’ instead. Check for missing topics or subtopics (entities) with an SEO checker and add those in. It might help your page.

16

SophyGenesis said:
You might still be focusing too much on keywords. Try looking into ‘Entity SEO’ instead. Check for missing topics or subtopics (entities) with an SEO checker and add those in. It might help your page.

Why are entities so effective? Can’t people just spam them like with keywords?

17

@Evans
It doesn’t work that way with entities. You can’t just spam them like keywords. Look up some tutorials on Entity SEO.

18

SophyGenesis said:
@Evans
It doesn’t work that way with entities. You can’t just spam them like keywords. Look up some tutorials on Entity SEO.

Can someone explain Entity SEO in simple terms here?

19

When did you make the update?

20

Tivah said:
When did you make the update?

Does updating content affect rankings? I used to rank #1, but now I’m #2 after I stopped posting frequently.

21

Bram said:

Tivah said:
When did you make the update?

Does updating content affect rankings? I used to rank #1, but now I’m #2 after I stopped posting frequently.

Yes, updating content can affect rankings. When you update, Google has to reassess the page. It might drop for a bit, but if your update improves quality, it’ll bounce back.

But lately, Google’s behavior doesn’t always make sense.