Google Releasing a Core Update Tomorrow (Monday)

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   eugbugposted 4 years ago

   According to @searchliaison on Twitter
   They don't usually tell us beforehand?

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      lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, they want to be proactive is what Danny says.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I wonder what that means for my traffic...

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   DrMark1961posted 4 years ago

   My traffic is up almost 30% today but almost all of the increases seem to be due to google android.
   Does anyone know of a way we should be optimizing our hubs for android?

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      eugbugposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Until the image zoom bug is fixed on mobile devices, it's probably not a good idea using any small text on images.

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   Wesman Todd Shawposted 4 years ago

   I'm also getting some nice large surges from Google Android. I'm not certain what exactly that means though.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yup, my traffic almost doubled for a few days. But it's now subsiding again.

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   jansharesposted 4 years ago

   My traffic was more awesome than usual, too, for a couple days. Today it's down by a couple hundred views. Is this due to the update you were referring to?

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      lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I just posted a new thread about this wrt Caloriebee. Dengarden is fine so far and may even be doing better hard to say as this is when my traffic keeps rising anyway.

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         OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Interestingly, traffic to my website (devoted to herbs) is down significantly, but my Dengarden hubs (gardening) traffic has flattened, neither up nor down.

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            lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Oh that's sad. Is your website set up like your articles on Dengarden? Like all good pages or do you have a lot of short pages answering questions in a paragraph or two?

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               OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               I have to admit that I haven't been writing new articles or updating old ones as often I should.  I've been busy.  Life is starting to calm down a bit for me so I should have more time to write and revise.  My traffic was holding steady and then suddenly dipped.  Now I understand why.  Darn that Google!

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                  lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  Good luck getting it back on track. Work on getting stuff interlinked and have a good menu structure. Those are good starting points on any site in case you don't already do this. Updated content definitely helps.

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                     OldRosesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks for the advice.  I have been doing those things, but it's nice to have confimation from an expert.

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   2. 96

      eugbugposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Overall my traffic is down about 15% since last week, possibly some of the drop due to the algorithm but also students are breaking up for the summer so Owlcation articles are taking a hit (happened last year).

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         jansharesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Got it!

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      Jessica Beasleyposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I have been one hubpages for almost 6 months now and my traffic started exponentially increasing the month of may (I started promoting on Pinterest and Instagram) and then once early June hit, my overall views started dropping. I don't know a whole lot about how searches, algorithms, and all that stuff works just yet, but reading thread like this make me feel like there's a lot to it and not just purely something I'm doing completely wrong.

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   Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

   I am having surges as well -- most from Google.

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   Savio Dawsonposted 4 years ago

   My traffic surges continue too. Also, see a few hubs having hits from google android. Has something changed which is making this possible? Well, I am enjoying the hits, nonetheless.

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   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 4 years ago

   Something I'm noticing is that all of my traffic is steady, except for articles which are at all medical related. I have articles on WeHaveKids that aren't medical related that are doing fine and ranking great (I'm only ranking under ScaryMommy which is good news for WeHaveKids) but medical related articles on the same niche are plummeting. It makes sense. But I think this is a really good example of why writing about anything medical related if you're not a medical expert is tricky.

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   Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years ago

   On Monday, my Google traffic surged to a record level, especially for my articles on HobbyLark. Since Tuesday, however, my Google traffic overall has been down by about 20%. For the same period that includes Monday, I have also noticed that my desktop traffic has increased by about 5% and that my mobile traffic has decreased by about 10%. (Traffic from tablets has remained about the same.) In summary, my overall traffic for Tuesday-Thursday is down by about 15%.
   
   There is a discussion about all of this over at Search Engine Roundtable.
   
   Here is the link:
   
   https://www.seroundtable.com/google-jun … 27682.html

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   TessSchlesingerposted 4 years ago

   That was interesting. So health, finance, and gambling hit.

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      Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I noticed that health-related sites were especially hard hit. I'm also wondering if some of my Android traffic is going to my two main competitors.

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    TessSchlesingerposted 4 years ago

    Daily Mail has lost 50% of its traffic. Vimeo has lost NFL has lost. Huffpost, Mirror, and Sun have gained.
    
    https://www.fastcompany.com/90360580/go … daily-mail

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    TessSchlesingerposted 4 years ago

    Just found this. If you scroll down the article,  you'll find a list of winners and loser.
    
    https://www.jellybeanagency.co.uk/blog/ … m-updates/

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       Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks. That is a very informative article.

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    eugbugposted 4 years ago

    According to Google:
    
    "This site diversity change means that you usually won't see more than two listings from the same site in our top results. However, we may still show more than two in cases where our systems determine it’s especially relevant to do so for a particular search…"
    
    I wonder what are the consequences of this for similar articles and variations on a theme?

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       Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I am wondering about this too.

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       TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       When I used to work for an SEO company in Houston, I ran into clients that used to have about a dozen different websites with slightly different names, so that when one google for a particular service, their company would come up for the first dozen spots... just on different sites. Black Hat and all that.

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    eugbugposted 4 years ago

    Possibly this been happening for some time. I noticed a couple of articles that were on page 1 in position 3 for a search term have completely disappeared from rankings. Splitting large articles into several smaller ones mightn't be a good idea any more either. (did this some time ago with a troubleshooting guide).

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       Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I agree with you about not splitting a larger article into smaller components. I also understand what you are talking about with articles disappearing from the serps. For example, I have noticed that I keep bouncing from position 1, 2, or 3 for one of my HobbyLark articles into oblivion, and then back again. It can change by the hour. This was going on before the Google update too.

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          eugbugposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          My guide was initially a very long (10,000 word article) so I split it into a basic and advanced guide. Both were ranking on page 1 but a few weeks ago, the basic guide vanished from SERPs.

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             Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

             That is quite puzzling why all that happened. Very puzzling indeed. I’m also wondering whether load speed time is now playing a more critical role than ever before, especially on Android. Why have certain webpages radically gained or lost viewers who are using Android? It has happened to me as well as others.

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    Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years ago

    I just received today’s edition of SearchEngineJournal.com. Here is a quote from the article:
    
    “Google’s Search Liaison announced a ‘change’ that will reduce duplicate site listings in the search results. The goal of this change is to show more diverse websites. This change is called the Site Diversity Change. It’s a change to how Google shows websites in the search results, but it’s not a change to how Google ranks websites.”
    
    Here is a link to the entire article:
    
    https://www.searchenginejournal.com/goo … newsletter

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    Great information. Thank you.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Well, my stats have neither been banner nor disastrous this week. Just plodding along.

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       Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Consider yourself  lucky, because some of us had quite a roller coaster week.

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    Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years ago

    For anyone who is interested, here is a link to a Google page where you can find out whether an HP article is mobile-friendly or not:
    
    https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    Gregory, Thank you.

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       Gregory DeVictorposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Kenna, you’re welcome. I have tested about one-half of my articles that are on HobbyLark thus far. So far, so good. As you may already know, some of us have seen radical gains or losses this week with Android users. For months, my desktop and Android users were always fairly even at about 48% each, with tablets getting about 4%. Today, everything was lopsided with desktops at 59%, Android at 39%, and tablets at 2%. It’s been that way since about Tuesday.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    It's hard to tell what is happening with the Google update and Maven Popups. Someone mentioned the popups are blocking the articles on a mobile.

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    PaulGoodman67posted 4 years ago

    It's difficult for me to gauge the impact. My views generally drop at this time of year because of school kids and college students taking their Summer break. It's also so complicated nowadays with everything split into niches - I write for multiple sites. Individual hubbers often have limited influence over such things anyway. I will wait to see if we get any info from HP. Thanks for those posting links to the search engine articles.

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       PaulGoodman67posted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I did have a few hubs that did astronomically well in late May, which I know from experience is usually a sign that Google is testing performances of samples in the prelude to a major algo change.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    As online writers, we are just candles in the wind. I still write, update, and continue to play the SEO game. However, I only do so because I still think of it as fun. The day it becomes just work, I am gone. Meanwhile, the key is resignation; the online world will keep messing with us and that's the way it is. Don't bet the ranch. Maybe a cow, pig, or chicken or two; but not the whole ranch.

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       lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       What if I'm old MacDonald?

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       TessSchlesingerposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I'm inclined to agree with you.
       
       It's why I've spent the year broadening my horison. Writing books, Looking at other stuff.
       
       I'm coming back to hubpages, though. If I really think about it, I love writing short articles.
       
       Just yesterday, I sat down and decided that from now on, I will write an article every Friday.

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    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    The ramifications of the Internet is tricky. From the last adjustment, Google made about duplicate content makes sense. I am going to say they are trying to get to the good stuff for those who need help or information that is valid. However, looking at those who benefited from the update, which Google says is different from the adjustment, it is not a fluke. Things just don't happen. They are planned.  I'd like to see HubPages benefit from Google's update. What would it take for that to happen?

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    eugbugposted 4 years ago

    Some interesting reading here, some points made about author recognition and original photos:
    
    https://www.seroundtable.com/google-fix … 27729.html

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       DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

       This is a very depressing article. (The comments are a lot more interesting.) Basically, it emphasizes to me that no matter how much you strive for author recognition, the site is going to be downgraded because of the poor pages on it.
       It was my feeling that the niche sites were going to help with that issue. Unfortunately, I think they all need to be severely pruned. (There are a lot of articles on there that never should have made it.) I doubt HP wants to do this though since having fewer updates is another reason web sites have poor rankings.
       Thoughts?

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          EricDockettposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          I find it especially frustrating when HP articles lose position in the SERPs, to be overtaken by articles and sites that in no way appear to meet Google standards, such as those discussed in the article.
          
          I think one reason our articles struggle is because of the wide focus on most of the niche sites. PetHelpful is generally pretty focused, but most of the other sites are all over the place.
          
          SpinDitty has musical instrument reviews and lessons as well as "Best Songs About (insert pretty much anything here) and "Top K-Pop Groups" articles.
          
          What is Google supposed to make of that?
          
          Exemplore has paranormal stuff, plus tarot reading and astrology. ???
          
          Owlcation has a huge mix of topics. My birding articles are linked to articles about alligators and other unrelated animals.
          
          I know HP staff work their butts off, and they do a great job, but sometimes it feels like we compete with these other sites with one hand tied behind our backs.

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             Wesman Todd Shawposted 4 years agoin reply to this

             Perhaps at some point in the future they'll split some sites into more exact niche sites? I'm one of the major suspects concerning musical instrument reviews on Spinditty.
             
             The folks there definitely confuse me sometimes. Lately I've thought they must think there are too many guitar articles on the site.

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                EricDockettposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                There is nothing wrong with your musical instrument reviews, or the K Pop stuff or anything else. But one of the things Google asks themselves when it comes to authority is "What is this site about?"
                
                In the case of some of the niche sites they are about many loosely related things. That means your guitar articles are going to have a harder time competing against articles on sites that only have guitar or musical instrument content. The more non-guitar stuff added, the more diluted it gets, the harder it will be to compete with sites that specialize.
                
                The niche sites have worked out very well, but this is one of the downsides. I would love to see HP add more sites and split topics up even further if that is practical.

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                   lobobrandonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

                   True. This is why it is important that you try and dominate your niche. If guitars are your niche, write a lot of guitar articles and interlink them once they are on the niche site. This is the next best thing to having a site on just guitars.

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    Ladymermaidposted 4 years ago

    Personally I think the niche sites simply need a better directory system so people can find the exact topics they are searching for. I find the current system very limiting

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       eugbugposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       There is the hamburger menu which shows sub-categories, but the menu at the top of the screen was never fixed and topics go off screen on desktop, Maybe this could be two lined?

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    Kierstin Gunsbergposted 4 years ago

    Eric, I totally agree! I think that they should niche out even more on HP, especially because there's some popular niches I feel like we're missing out on right now like true crime and satire.

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    gerimcclymposted 4 years ago

    I agree completely with the concept of splitting the current niche sites into more specialized niche sites. Owlcation is all over the place and it seems like some of the other niche sites are also. It seems that more specialized niche sites would be a win-win for all.

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    paradigmsearchposted 4 years ago

    Well, it's been 10 days now. Both HP and my website have been unaffected. Another Armageddon apparently survived.

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       DrMark1961posted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Yeah, me too, I only lost 35%. I think I had this traffic 2 or 3 years ago.

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    eugbugposted 4 years ago

    There are rumours about another algorithm update today (19th June).

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    Kierstin Gunsbergposted 4 years ago

    Curious about this rumored update! My traffic is still down from what it was before the earlier update but my earnings weren't as affected as I thought they'd be. Also, I'm noticing that traffic in my niches outside of parenting/babies is going up. Overall, I think that as time goes on, this update will be beneficial to HubPages as long as they continue to focus on quality pages and ditch the thin content.

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