Google have confirmed that a small algorithm update has taken place at the end of September 2018. Google’s Danny O Sullivan made the announcement and stated that major updates are normally widely communicated. From interpreting that statement and reading between the lines, we can deduce that this must have been a minor change yet it has caused some conversation and discussion online so it has obviously been big enough for it to be noticed by the community.
We have read and seen reports that many people have noticed a change in their website traffic and despite being billed as a minor change, this has actual made a substantial difference to rankings and placements for some people. The results seem to have been rises and falls across many domains, so if you are currently looking at ranking data, have noticed something different, and feel it isn’t quite right, this new algorithm update has a strong possibility of being the cause of it.
So what do they actually mean by smaller then?
Perhaps it is worth clarifying this as many of you are probably sitting reading this thinking how can it be a small change if websites have noticed big ranking variations – the impacts would have hardly been small for them. By small they mean smaller than previous updates (e.g. see below,) but of course, that still means people will be affected.
You may also remember that there was only recently a core algorithm update back in August and some sites are only now showing signs of recovering from this. To have yet another change (even if it dubbed as small) is leading to a bit of confusion. Regular viewers of our blogs or the public who are knowledgeable about SEO, will be aware that these situations regularly happen, and the best way to follow all what is happening is to keep updated with the news and interpret your domain statistics in relation to this.
If you are still noticing effects from the August core update then Google’s John Mueller has recently put out some advice as to what webmasters can do and expect.
He states that domain owners should not panic just yet as it could take a few months for all the changes to be processed and rankings to settle. Like those who have ‘suffered’ from the September update, that will be little comfort to those who suddenly find they have dropped hundreds of places for no apparent reason.
Keep an eye on our blog or follow us online, as we regularly post about changes in the industry including algorithmic updates. You can rest assured that we will always post about answers to important industry questions and developments.
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