“Big drop today. Started the day with -50% again and it didn’t get better so far”
Take a peek at many of the SEO forums or comment sections under articles from SEO Roundtable, Search Engine Land or SEO Journal and you’ll likely see people sharing the same panicked sentiment.
It’s especially prevalent in the article highlighting and covering the increased volatility in the SERP (Well, duh, Liam). Panicking and blaming Google for this is the wrong thing to do; instead we need to accept and acknowledge that a more volatile SERP is just a fact of life for SEOs now.
A recent SEO Roundtable article listed 10, yes that’s 10, “unconfirmed” Google algorithm updates that the SEO community has noticed since the last official core update on the 15th of March. A sign that there could be an algorithm update happening is an increase in SERP ranking volatility. The article points to this volatility as an indicator of an algorithm update.
The article even mentions that the author is tired of reporting on these unofficial potential updates as Google doesn’t seem to want to associate these spikes in volatility to anything they’re doing. Certainly not any updates.
And here’s the thing. I don’t think Google is currently making any big tweaks to the SERP they’re not telling us about. I think that the SERP has just become a lot more volatile.
Way-back-when you could expect to see your rankings remain relatively static between core updates but those days are gone. Crying about big ranking fluctuations isn’t going to bring them back.
Google is now smart enough to adjust things on the fly. Heck, it can serve you localised results so why would it wait for a core algorithm update to serve you results it thinks are more suited to your query.
Daily fluctuations are a symptom of the search engine getting smarter. Any SEO worth their paycheck needs to accept that fact and devise strategies that make them resistant to a volatile SERP. What they shouldn’t be doing is kicking off online about volatility, they should be working on what they can control on their own websites.
Volatility isn’t just here to stay, it’s the status quo
Say it louder for the people at the back.
VOLATILITY IS HERE TO STAY!
The days of the sleepy SERP are over but while rankings can rise and fall on a dime I think SEOs still need to take a methodical and consistent approach to SEO.
We can’t be running around like headless chickens trying frantically to respond to every fluctuation Google throws at us (or crying about it in SEO forums). The problem may be new but the solution is a lot more familiar. Focus on SEO best practices and especially hitting those positive E.E.A.T signals.
Just like every good SEO strategy, building up a robust website that can withstand a volatile SEPR will take time. Like, 12-18 months worth of time depending on how prepared or unprepared your site is for this new reality.
One thing I have seen is that sites remaining consistently at the top of the SERP are displaying strong experience, expertise, authority and trust (E.E.A.T) signals. Creating a trustworthy site which shares expert knowledge from authoritative sources is what will keep you competitive.
For me, the two biggest areas you manipulate to send out these good signals are: Content Authors and Content Freshness.
Content authors
In an age of AI generated articles and mass produced content spam having real world, bonafide experts writing, reviewing or even just putting their name to your content can go a long way in separating your site from competitors in the SERP.
Google wants authoritative experts people can see and trust. Author bios displaying career experience and a real and varied body of writing can be the difference between a consistent P1 and flying around from P1 to P10.
Content freshness
Content is still king but that doesn’t mean you need 1000 blog articles on your site to rank. In fact, a bloated and hard to navigate repository of informational content can be a big detriment to your online brand.
Google wants to see a well-maintained, concise body of content on your website. Every URL providing value to readers and bringing in regular visitors. Anyone can spin out 100 pieces of low quality content a week and leave it to languish online but by constantly pruning, improving and editing your site you can show Google there’s real experts behind your brand providing a consistent service to your visitors.
Will any of this matter in a few months anyway? Once SGE rolls around it’s game over isn’t it?
Why even bother trying to build a volatility resistant site with search generative experience is right around the corner? The SERP’s going to get decimated anyway, right?
It may be true that a lot of the volatility we’re seeing now is the precursor to this change but that doesn’t mean we should give up trying to get to the top of the SERP.
If anything we should double down our efforts. SGE is going to be a massive change but presumably the algorithm Google uses to select its sources for SGE will be the same as the one it uses to rank sites now.
So it doesn’t matter if you want to remain resistant to volatility or prepare for SGE, the avenue to win at both of these is the same.