About Google January 2020 Core updates

When talking about core updates, Google has a long history of them. In 2019, Google has transitioned from individual names to a simple “Core Update” naming system. While Google implements hundreds of small algorithm changes every year, the core updates are the ones that affect the organic rankings of many websites in different industries.

It did not take long for Google to release its first confirmed 2020 Google update. As announced on January 13th, Google has rolled out what it has called the January 2020 Core Update. The significance of this algorithm update increases as Google has confirmed that the new update is a broad core algorithm change. The search engine giant has been testing new designs for the Search/SERPs and is finally taking it live to all users worldwide.

As the days go by, the update’s impact was decreased with lower and lower volatility being reflected by the index on desktop. However, mobile showed a slightly different pattern with the third day of the update’s roll-out showing an increase in rank volatility.

What exact changes do site owners need to make?

The latest Google update is less of a technical algorithm change. Unfortunately, Google is not giving a lot of details on the exact changes, but like all rollouts of broad core updates, the E-A-T (Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness) method is the clearest direction on how to recover from any lost traffic.

How do you know if you were impacted by a Google algorithm update?

The first indicator would be your keyword rankings. If your keyword rankings took a drastic hit in terms of rankings compared to previous periods, you were most likely impacted by an update. Knowing as much as you can about what it means to be impacted by any algorithm update is important for any website. Internet marketing companies also say that timing is critical in terms of your response.

In line with this, Google has been telling webmasters that the only way to recover from the impact of a broad core algorithm update is by building great content. The search engine giant also says that these updates are focused on improving the search quality by giving users better search results.

Google’s new update seems to backup that methodology, by focusing on and rewarding simple, great content that users engage with and want to share. Developing great content is the place to start for both international and local search engine optimization in 2020.

If you need assistance in analysing whether your website has been affected by a Google core algorithm update, digital marketing experts we, at Creativo, can assist you. Contact us at +971 4 568 4882 today!