Google periodically updates its search engine algorithm, many updates are specific such as the Medic update which went live in August of last year, this was an update which targeted medical related businesses, of which dentistry was one.
The latest Florida 2 core algorithm update doesn’t target any specific segment specifically, rather it is a generic update to Google’s algorithm.
We understand it can be useful to some for updates to have names. Our name for this update is "March 2019 Core Update." We think this helps avoid confusion; it tells you the type of update it was and when it happened.
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 15, 2019
What difference will it make?
I’m noticing client websites already seeing the effects of this update, although this is almost 100% positive across the board.
Here are a couple of client websites which I track, you can clearly see the algorithm update on 15 March indicated by the Google logo along the timeline at the bottom.
In both cases traffic has started to increase since the update as can clearly be seen.
Will your site be affected by this?
Almost certainly yes, but the key to knowing whether the effect will be positive or negatives is that there are two different types of Google updates.
- Those which are designed to stop the system being gamed.
- Those that are designed to understand humans better.
If we understand how Google’s algorithm works it becomes possible to game the system, we can play to its strengths and weaknesses to get a website to rank, this is typically how search optimisation works. It involves a deep understanding, gained through experience and testing, of how the Google algorithm works. The danger with this is that in one moment we can be gaming the system and getting good search results, yet in the next moment Google works out that the system is being gamed and penalises you!
Companies which optimise websites using this technique get good results in the short term, but poor results in the long-term as Google’s algorithm continuously updates.
The Florida 2 core update is not this type of update, it’s an update designed to understand humans better. It’s an update designed to ensure that Google gives people far better quality search results based upon the nature of the query.
It’s a humanising update. It’s Google understanding humans better.
So the reason I think clients of mine have seen an increase in traffic since the update is not because we have been focusing on trying to game the system, it’s because we have been focusing on creating the VERY best content for our readers… Google is now better able to understand that we have been creating great content and has rewarded us for doing so.
The key therefore to ongoing search optimisation is to understand these algorithm updates, understand what the very best type of content is, understand what people want to read online and what information they want and then create this content in a way they want to digest it.
If we do that then we will ultimately be rewarded by Google… And the proof is in this latest update.
Google, I thank you 