To borrow Hunter S. Thompson’s signature style for a moment, morning comes hard to SEO professionals everywhere these days it seems. There has definitely been a shake-up in the search engine results page (SERP) for Google.
Even Barry Schwartz, a leading SEO industry blogger, and webmaster of seroundtable.com, admits the news on the subject is alive and he acknowledges the repeated coverage but the reason is evident…
All major 3rd party SERP volatility tracking tools have been firing off and showing signs of strong activity within the last couple of weeks. Mozcast, Accuranker, RankRanger, SEMRush, Advanced Web Rankings, SERP Metrics, and Algoroo have all been showing signs of trememdous SERP volatility and, from my own experience with my site and clients’ sites, the volatility is real. But what can be done about it?
Truthfully speaking, not much.
Content & Links: The Original Recipe Still Works
I still add content and build links (when possible). They are 2 age-old practices that Google officially confirmed as leading search signals back in March of 2016
I don’t see why this would change any time soon or what could possibly replace this system. Content is the whole point of the search query whether it be something as simple as directions or something more complex like how a diesel engine works.
Links that DON’T contain the nofollow html tag (rel=”nofollow”) still serve as a “vote of confidence” and pass authority to the site that the link directs to.
Reach Over Rank
I have wrote on this in the past: Don’t obsess over rank. Of course, 1st position should be a secondary goal but increasing your first page listings should be priority 1. SERPs are not stable and Google completely admits to multiple updates daily with the occasional huge update that sends the SEO industry into panic/mania mode. Avoid these up and down waves by increasing reach through additional first page search listings.
SEO vs UX
SEO best practices and UX best practices don’t always mesh well. In some cases, simplicity is key with UX but for technical SEO matters this simply will not work. Lot’s of onsite detailed content *cough* keywords *cough* are required if seeking a first page rank for relative site keywords.
Many Times, Waiting Is The Best Option
If a reason is not known for a major shift in SERPs then sometimes waiting it out is the best option. I have seen sites drop off the first page only to return their a week or two later. The key is not to panic and just assess the situation. Making changes to a site simply as a defensive strategy to a rank shift is not only pointless since it’s essentially just guessing but it is also runs the risk of being counter productive. A major on-site SEO change could end up doing more damage in the long run.
If you need an expert to help with SEO and get your businesses presence on Google’s first page then call today: 585-622-1126