Optimize Your Website For Any Google Update
Google regularly rolls out algorithm updates designed to improve search results for users. These Google updates, especially the major core updates, can significantly impact search rankings. For dental marketing professionals, staying on top of Google updates and optimizing content accordingly is essential for sustaining strong organic visibility.
Examine recent Google updates relevant to dental SEO and provide tips for adapting to changes with Now Media Group, a full-service digital marketing agency based out of San Diego, CA. Call (858) 333-8950 today to speak to a representative about optimizing your website’s SEO for any updates Google throws your way.
What Are Google Core Updates?
Google core updates are significant changes made to the search engine’s core ranking algorithm. Unlike smaller tweaks released daily, Google deploys core updates every few months.
These updates aim to improve overall search relevancy and user experience. Core updates can lead to major ranking fluctuations as Google reassesses website pages based on new ranking factors and adjustments made to existing factors.
Recent Impactful Google Updates for Dental SEO
To navigate Google updates successfully, it’s important to track updates relevant to your niche and analyze the potential impacts. Here are some recent Google updates that significantly affected dental marketing and SEO:
- August 2022 Helpful Content Update: This major update prioritized people-first content, aiming to surface results that are truly helpful and informative to users. For dentists, this means focusing on creating high-quality, original content that addresses patients’ actual needs and concerns. Thin, generic content or content written primarily for search engines will likely see ranking drops.
- November 2021 Core Update: Focusing on improving results for informational queries, this core update led to significant ranking changes across niches, including the dental industry. Many sites experienced volatility lasting weeks after the rollout.
- June 2021 Page Experience Update: With this update, Google incorporated new page experience factors into rankings, including Core Web Vitals metrics and mobile-friendliness. Dental sites had to optimize site speed, UI/UX, and mobile pages.
- December 2020 Core Update: This major update advanced Google’s algorithms for understanding complex queries and user intent. Dental sites that effectively explained complex treatments and procedures in layman’s terms were rewarded.
Analyzing Google Algorithm Updates
Monitoring news about SEO and Google algorithm updates within dental marketing communities can provide insight into core updates. However, analyzing your site’s performance data is crucial for understanding the impacts of Google updates.
Key metrics to analyze after each update include:
- Organic Traffic From Google: Major decreases can indicate site ranking issues.
- Rankings for Target Keywords: Drops for competitive keywords may indicate content gaps.
- Site Crawl Stats: Problems like indexation decreases or errors could cause ranking changes.
- Top Landing Pages: See which pages were hit hardest by an update.
- User Engagement Stats: Changes may reflect page experience ranking factors.
Tips for Adapting to Google Core Updates
Google Core updates are inevitable. Here are some tips for optimizing dental content and SEO to thrive through Google updates:
- Prioritize helpful, comprehensive content that provides value for visitors, answering common dental questions in-depth. The latest Google updates reward this quality content.
- Optimize pages and blogs for Google’s ranking factors guided by their Search Quality Raters’ Guidelines. Focus on E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness).
- Improve page experience by optimizing Core Web Vitals metrics through site speed improvements, AMP implementation, and UI/UX refinements.
- Monitor your site’s Google Discover traffic. Google is indexing and ranking helpful, engaging dental content published on sites.
- Build high-quality inbound links from reputable sources like dental associations and publications to improve domain authority.
- Produce fresh, original content that hasn’t been covered extensively by other dental websites. Rewriting or lightly rewording existing content on the topic won’t cut it anymore.
- Leverage Google’s algorithm updates as opportunities to weed out thin, low-value content and refresh your dental SEO strategy, rather than relying on tricks and workarounds. Producing great content should be the focus.
Stay Up to Date on Google Algorithm News
Staying current on the latest Google updates, advice directly from Google’s SEO team, and dental marketing community discussions is the best way to get ahead of changes and ensure your website’s content remains aligned with Google’s evolving algorithm. With regular analysis and optimization, your dental practice’s SEO can thrive through Google’s core updates.
Learn more about SEO best practices and optimize your website with Now Media Group’s team of SEO experts. Call (858) 333-8950 today to meet our helpful representatives and schedule a consultation!