As you are reading this, Google is rolling out the August 2024 Core Update 😱

The SEO community is basically divided into 3 groups:

Talk to anyone who’s been doing SEO long enough, and they’ll tell you that updates and traffic fluctuations are part of doing SEO. Whatever happens will happen. You just have to learn to adapt.

Even so, there are some things that you can do during core update times to improve your chances of staying safe or at least identifying potential negative impacts. Let’s go over some of them:

Wait it out

The best thing you can do is be patient and wait. Core Updates usually take about a month to complete, so you will most likely not notice anything until then. You can’t fix anything until you figure out if something went wrong. So chill and wait for the updates to roll out fully.

Carry on

Continue doing business as usual. If you have a content calendar, keep publishing. If you are getting backlinks, keep working on them. Site quality is always important, so audit your website for any technical or on-page issues you may have and fix them.

Keep an eye on it

The best way to see if your website is impacted during or after a Core Update is to monitor traffic changes. Keep a close eye on Google Search Console, specifically looking at impressions, clicks and page indexing. If you are losing traffic or if your pages are being unindexed, you may have a problem.

Also, monitor your keyword rankings, which are usually the first sign that something is wrong. Ranking fluctuations are normal, but huge drops are not.

What’s next?

Unless you’ve been doing some fishy SEO stuff, you probably have nothing to worry about. Google updates do not impact most websites (unless we are talking about the HCU, but that’s another story for another day 😂), but if you notice that something did go wrong, check the usual suspects:

Improving your website's overall quality is key to staying safe during and after Core Updates. Take some time to enhance your site's content and user experience, or reach out to an SEO expert for guidance. This way, you'll be better prepared for any changes Google makes.

P.S. Need help with your SEO? Currently, I’m only taking on projects from local businesses in my country, but I have many SEO freelancer friends I can recommend. Hit me up if you need an intro 🤝

Are there any specific topics you want me to cover in the coming weeks? DM me on Twitter and let me know!

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