Whilst November has felt like a less harassing month as far as algorithm updates go, confirmation has finally been given for a suspected algorithm update which took place on the 22nd November.
Large amounts of flux was noticed on Mozcast (19/11), which started to cast some suspicions:
This was then confirmed with large amounts of Flux seen on the UK and US SERP Metrics graphs:
In a typically enigmatic (read - infuriating) response from Google, they said there was no update then, but there was one to follow within the next week or so.
It turns out that they weren’t lying it did follow, the next day. There was a faintly Panda-y smell lingering within the SERP movements we’ve seen throughout that period and at least there is a small level of vindication in the fact that it seems we were right.
For those of you don’t know the moves to the algorithm shuffle yet, Panda is Google’s way of keeping spammy content from the top search results. This update in the grand scheme of things is relatively minor with a reported 0.8% of search queries impacted, when you consider the initial launch of Panda saw nearly 12% of queries effected, it puts it to prospective a little more.
With each update there are always winners and losers, if you have been hit, what’s most important is that you take the time to assess your current on-site strategy. Take the time now, make sure top-quality content is on the agenda.
