Hold Onto Your Seats, the Google Core Update is Live

1. 96

   eugbugposted 2 years ago

   Anyone noticing any traffic changes?

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Nada, though, overall, it's up.

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      NateB11posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Traffic went up for me awhile back but lately no change, still up where it had risen more or less.

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2. 94

   FatFreddysCatposted 2 years ago

   Maybe a slight uptick compared to a week ago, but still nothing to get overly excited about (shrug).

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3. 89

   lobobrandonposted 2 years ago

   The trend is exactly the same as last year, just a flat 40% lower on each of my two most popular articles. The new articles have made up for the loss though. No changes due to the current update.

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      eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Is that because we've moved further into the summer? My seed sowing guide is trailing off now after having peaked at the start of March and the lawn mower troubleshooting one too. It peaked the start of May.

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         OldRosesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         My gardening articles peak in May and then slowly lose traffic through the summer.

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         lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Nope, comparison year on year for the current week. At the start of summer I had a larger decrease on comparison. I added a number to the title of one of my hubs which made it get more clicks, but the title was unchanged for years.
         
         Until last year I had the first spot on search for quite a few terms, this year with all these design changes and stuff I seem to have lost the spot. The articles are updated regularly. And this particular hub of mine begins increasing in traffic during June since it is about problems once the plant has grown up

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            eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

            Same here. I lost the first spot/featured snippet for several articles. Some guides have had a large increase though compared to last year, for instance the garden hose guide one.

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               lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

               But was this already at its peak? If yes, anything special about it that you think makes it do well? One of my hubs was massively edited and it grew but I would say this is because of the update (my edit and not Google) than it increasing in ranking on its own.
               
               I'm curious about OldRoses, she writes a lot and so her overall traffic increases year on year, but I wonder what the trend is on her old articles that are already well aged and were ranking very well last year and the year before last. If she also saw a decrease then it could be a site-wide issue.
               
               I also wrote quite a bit (relatively speaking) last year and so my overall numbers are pretty consistent to last year.

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                  eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  I think the seed sowing one lost its featured snippet before traffic started to ramp upwards early this year. That's why the peak wasn't as high as last year. I've never been able to put my finger on why it has done well. I have four articles, including the seed one whose titles begin with "Gardening for Beginners...". So they're like a series and the intention is to promote them as such. However the one about taking cuttings, although it has lots of photos, similarly titled H2 modules with "Steps" as the first word and bulleted lists, only gets a dozen views per day. I changed the title on that recently, but it hasn't improved. I suppose it's partly a case of certain gardening techniques not being searched for as frequently plus similar titles compete against each other (i.e the "Gardening for Beginners",) although I like the concept of having a group of guides. People like collecting things/reading a series of books/articles. I guess that's the novelty of Pinterest, collecting things onto boards.
                  
                  
                  

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                     lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                     I also seem to have a problem with competing articles in some cases.

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                        PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

                        "I'm curious about OldRoses, she writes a lot and so her overall traffic increases year on year, but I wonder what the trend is on her old articles that are already well aged and were ranking very well last year and the year before last."
                        
                        Regarding view comparisons with last year. I have multiple accounts, but views for this one are way up on last year, and have been since we got that boost in January (before that, they were relatively poor, I had the worst Christmas I've had for years, despite doing a lot of editing in 2020). I've been writing a lot of new stuff on some of my other accounts, but not on this one (PaulGoodman67).
                        
                        My feeling is that things are going well overall. For sure, some of my best hubs aren't doing as well as they used to, but there's been a general rise that's more than cancelled it out.

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                           lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                           Cool. Good to know. Which niche sites if I may ask?
                           
                           Below are my stats year on year. Blue is the current period, orange is the previous year. Until April I was getting about a 100% more traffic year-on-year and these are the non-gardening or non-seasonal hubs. Gardening hubs do get some traffic from the southern hemisphere during this period as well.
                           
                           But as the gardening period kicks for the northern hemisphere the hubs that have lost their positions since September or so based on my keyword tracking make their effect known.
                           
                           Some of the hubs have had edits made to them, I will go through and find out what was changed, maybe I will find something. But only later this month.
                           
                           

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                              PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

                              I have articles in at least 17 different niches last time I checked. That's partly because I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket. Plus I enjoy variety. And even when I write on one topic, such as "Florida", HP can choose to split the articles between Wander Wisdom, Owlcation, Tough Nickel, etc. They decide at the end of the day.
                              
                              I would like to be more focused, but that can be hard work! It's more fun to take a break and write an opinion piece aimed at Soapboxie or whatever sometimes!
                              
                              My experience with gardening hubs is as Old Roses says, views and earnings are very seasonal, which is as you'd expect. I only have a handful, but they peak at the start of Summer then fade. There are other things that peak in summer, in my experience, some travel/vacation topics, some wildlife topics where certain animals are more visible in the hotter months.
                              
                              Generally speaking, the best period for views and earnings has always been the last few months of the year, as far as I'm aware.
                              
                              It used to be easier to look at the annual patterns for different key words and phrases but Adwords reduced the info it gave out, and other services that were previously free started charging. There is still a reasonable amount of free info regarding websites though, including the niches.
                              
                              A lot of what is said in the forums is by definition anecdotal. It's not that people are being dishonest, it's more that they don't necessarily lead you to the bigger picture. I like the bigger data, but it's become more scarce.

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                                 lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                                 Yeah, I do continue to pay for some resources that track rankings and look at niche sites on the whole. That is why I was particularly interested in Dengarden since I have the site being tracked
                                 
                                 But 17 niche sites, damn haha. I thought of writing more for PetHelpful but Eric has that covered, it would just be competition within the domain if I begin writing on similar topics. At the moment there are no other niche sites that I would be interested in writing. Delishably maybe, but my recipes often don't have fancy names others are going to look for

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                                    eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                                    I thought you were considering physics articles on Owlcation?

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                                       lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                                       Super low search volume on the stuff I wanted to write about. People are just not into higher-level physics I guess. It kind of makes sense, because those that are interested would prefer to use standard textbooks in that case.

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                  OldRosesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                  Sorry, I don't keep track of where my articles sit on Google or if I have featured snippets.  But I can say that my older articles, which are updated every year, increase in traffic every year, including this year.  Which is why I go through the torture of updating all of my articles every year.  I am always rewarded with more traffic on all of my articles, new and old.  So far this year, I'm having my best year ever.

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                     eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                     Maybe you're perceived by Google as an authoritative writer on the subject of gardening and that increases the ranking of guides?
                     https://www.seroundtable.com/google-rec … 31307.html

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                        OldRosesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                        Wouldn't that be nice?  I'd love to be considered an authoritative writer by Google!  Maybe someday.  In the meantime, I just keep plugging along.

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                     lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

                     Cool, that is what I wanted to know. I was wondering if your older articles continued to do as well or better this year as in the past. Thanks

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   bhattucposted 2 years ago

   As usual changes in Search engine algorithm? May be.

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5. 94

   PaulGoodman67posted 2 years ago

   According to SEO Round Table, it's live, but not much seems to be happening. That's my experience too.
   
   Generally speaking, my traffic has dropped over the last couple of weeks, but that's just in line with the normal annual seasonal movement, June/July are always bad.
   
   Lets hope for a good Algo change and a good August.

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      Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. I look forward to a good August!

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   eugbugposted 2 years ago

   Hopefully the July update will be beneficial too.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      As I understand it, this is just a regular Core Update that's live right now, the much anticipated June algo change, that was delayed from May, hasn't arrived yet.

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         lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Yup, that is the one to look out for.

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7. 87

   bravewarriorposted 2 years ago

   My traffic has actually doubled from May 30 to June 5. That encouraging considering I've written absolutely zilch this year.
   
   Over the last year, 70.9% of my traffic is thru organic search. The last 7 days show 50/50 organic/social search. I have several articles that are evergreen (recipes, product reviews, organic ways to maintain septic system, and even one fictional short story that I wrote years ago in response to a photo challenge, amongst other more technical posts) that continuously earn for me no matter the time of year. Those keep my earnings alive while my muse is in hiding :-).

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8. 91

   ziyenaposted 2 years ago

   "May 2021 Google update, known as Core Web Vitals consist of 3 page-experience metrics which all fundamentally relate to the speed of a web page and, therefore, affect user-experience. They are part of how Google measures Page Speed.
   
   In simple terms the 3 metrics are:
   
       LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) – which measures how quickly a page loads and a visitor can see something on the screen.
       FID (First Input Delay) – which measures how quickly a visitor can interact with your page by, for instance, clicking a button.
       CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) – which measures how quickly the page is visually stable."   - as per Michelle Symonds of Ditto Digital
   
   If these 3 metrics are required then my question is about the Video Banner Ads at the top of our hubs ... In my opinion, I see this placement of advertising as an obstructive hindrance - not at all a visually stable experience.  Does anyone have an inside on whether or not Google might frown upon these type of ads in lieu of the metric pertaining to the Cumulative Layout Shift?

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      NateB11posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      That's interesting, I didn't know the update had to do with page speed. I don't really know about it but it's logical that the big banner video/ad at the top of articles would have an effect. The only thing I'll say is that a lot of sites have ads like that and I'm thinking it must be successful in terms of monetization. My feeling is that revenue is important. At the risk of sounding lukewarm, traffic is also important.

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      Maffew Jamesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Visual stability refers to elements moving other content on the page as they load in. For example, an image loads in and pushes the nearby text down. Cumulative layout shift is a measure of how much of this shifting occurs.
      
      The simple answer is that no, ads don't inherently cause CLS to increase. At least, not any more frequently than any other element like a block of text or an image. The longer answer is that it depends on how elements have been coded and whether those that load later than the bulk of the page content are given space to load in so that the rest of the content doesn't shift when they finally do.
      
      Ads and similar elements do affect other Core Web Vitals though, like the largest contentful paint because the video is typically the largest element in the mobile browser's initial viewport. LCP doesn't measure how quickly a page loads, it measures how quickly the largest element in the viewport loads. If this element is JavaScript-based it's going to be more of a burden than say an image or text.
      
      It's also important to note that this update isn't a thing yet. It's not a May update, it's been pushed back to mid-June so it's coming soon. The timeline is the current core algorithm update (core as in the main part of the algorithm, not Core Web Vitals) at the start of June, Page Experience mid-June, another core algorithm update at the start of July.
      
      When Page Experience hits, it will add Core Web Vitals as another ranking signal. Pages are assessed individually on whether they pass, and if they do it's a small advantage over a page that doesn't. Google has referred to it as more of a 'tiebreaker' signal in that if all else is equal, the page that passes the core web vitals assessment has an advantage.
      
      Also be aware that 'page experience', IE, Core Web Vitals only apply to mobile pages. Google has said that desktop will come later but it's not something to worry about now.
      
      HubPages answer to this seems to be to prioritize AMP implementation to pass the test. Many of my pages now pass in recent weeks, some don't pass, some don't even have an AMP page for some reason.
      
      The non-AMP site architecture is poorly coded, bloated, and loads incredibly slowly but it doesn't matter in the slightest as long as they continue to implement AMP for every mobile page and ensure that each page passes the Core Web Vitals test.
      
      
      
      
      Test it yourself for your pages by adding .amp/ before the category in the URL. For example, ...bellatory.com/.amp/hair/...

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         chef-de-jourposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         What an excellent and useful summary, thank you Maffew James. You shone some light into the darker parts of Google giant's mysterious algorithmic brain, which no human can ever hope or ever want to fully understand.

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         ziyenaposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks You so much, Maffew ... your explanation and expertise gives me a better understanding.  Your reply post should be a bookmark for anyone who doesnt understand how these updates work.

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   hclpdposted 2 years ago

   Around 20% of my traffic is gone. Here is hoping that things go back to normal, but it seems that traffic only plummets with every update.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, traffic is down. But not sure if it's worth worrying about with a big update expected soon. The January update was very good for HP, so I have my fingers crossed. I will cry if traffic drops again.

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         Kenna McHughposted 2 years agoin reply to this

         Yup. Big drop, ouch! That hurt!

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    FatFreddysCatposted 2 years ago

    Yup, looks like I took a big hit overnight. Ouuuuuch!!

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       lobobrandonposted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Same.

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          PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

          Back down to 2020 levels for me, which is bad. That was my worst year for some time. I'll be running over to Medium to try and make up the earnings difference, if this hit begins to look like it's long term thing.

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             OldRosesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

             Traffic is down on Medium also.  Edit:  This month I will earn about a third of what I normally earn on Medium.

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                PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

                That's useful to know.

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    eugbugposted 2 years ago

    Mine is down 20% too. Didn't they say that if we lost traffic in this June update, we may get a boost in July, or words to that effect? Hopefully not wishful thinking.

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       PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

       Who is the "they" that you refer to? HP? Google?
       
       But yeah, can only hope that July brings relief. There's a lot of speculation now on SEO Roundtable as to what just happened and whether this was THE June update, not just a regular core update. It certainly felt like a big one for me!

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          eugbugposted 2 years agoin reply to this

          There was something mentioned on Seroundtable as far as I recall. I can't find it now.

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             PaulGoodman67posted 2 years agoin reply to this

             I do see some SEO people/website owners on there speculating about gains/losses being reversed in July. That might happen. Or the current hit may fade away over the coming weeks, that can happen too. We can only hope.

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             Maffew Jamesposted 2 years agoin reply to this

             It's probably the interview with Martin Splitt that you're thinking of.
             https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCo-JXybk4
             
             As usual, Google's response to most things is some opaque variation of "yes, but no, but also maybe". Still an interesting discussion though. He states that it's possible that a small slice of content that is affected by the current core update may see a reversal in the July core update.
             
             I wouldn't count on a reversal though. Search quality for Google seems to mean big companies that spend thousands buying backlinks, a thin Amazon page, or placing 6 Pinterest pages on the first page, all leading to a login wall. Eventually, search will just be eCommerce and content marketing pages fighting each other to the death.

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    bravewarriorposted 2 years ago

    Yep, just checked. Mine is down from two days ago. About the same percentage as others are reporting.

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    Sam Shepardsposted 2 years ago

    I'm down somewhere between 25 and 35% compared to the previous 12 months. Hits on most articles, but the bulkof my traffic comes from pet. I even republished around 100 old lower quality articles that I was keeping unpublished to rework the coming months to get them to the niche sites, but with this traffic it's not worth it, I'll wait it out and see if it recovers by the end of the year.

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    Sam Shepardsposted 2 years ago

    I just read that the core update is in 2 parts, the next part probably in July. It is also said that the July part could in some cases reverse the changes of the june update, so wait and see.

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