Key points to note about Google May 2020 Core Update and its Impact on Your Website

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Google decided to introduce its second major algorithm update. The release of the ‘May 2020 Core Update’ has surprised many businesses. People weren’t expecting the algorithm update in the middle of the global crisis. The coronavirus pandemic has led to the closure of many industries. Some industries are affected so much that even their web traffic has witnessed a drop. Many SEO specialists and webmasters are criticizing the poor timing of this major update.

Keeping online businesses running amidst the global pandemic is challenging enough for companies. People are uncertain about the web traffic as the pandemic has led to a decline in conversions and engagement rate. 

What’s even more shocking is the fact that Google has introduced some big changes to its algorithm. That is why they call it a Major Update of the year. So, it is going to impact all the websites running in the search engine. The first thing you need to do is to check your traffic. If there is a decline in your traffic, don’t panic. Here we have some important information that will help you deal with this update.

Update Your Previous Posts

Every blogger has the habit of posting at least 1-2 blog posts every week. It is important to keep posting the latest content frequently to improve your search ranking. What’s more important is to update your previous posts. The update doesn’t mean adding a new photo or changing a few lines. You will rather have to add a handful of relevant images & new paragraphs, delete unnecessary sentences, and even rewrite the entire post.

The goal is to keep your posts relevant and up-to-date for your readers. What updates you need in your previous content vary across posts. Remember that one of the integral parts of website optimization is updating your content on a regular basis.  Check at least 3-4 posts every day and make necessary changes and delete irrelevant content to make it readable and useful for your audience.

Work on Your SEO

The new algorithm update has hit many websites with poor SEO. The common SEO errors that can hurt your website ranking are copied content, irrelevant meta description, poor quality content, and excessive use of keywords. 

Duplicate title tags, meta descriptions, and any part of your content aren’t acceptable. If you want your site to grow with this new algorithm update, improve your SEO and fix duplicate and poor quality content.

Avoid Thin Content 

Another factor that can affect your website traffic is thin content. Thin content refers to the pages with low word count. There is no research that proves the new algorithm update has brought down the traffic of sites with thin content. However, many webmasters witnessed a drop in their regular traffic rate after the release of the May 2020 Core Update. The update mainly hit the pages with low word count. 

It isn’t possible to fix every page. Some pages like contact or category pages don’t need thousands of words. Similarly, some blog posts can be explained better with videos and a series of images than words. But, you could write an in-depth post on topics that need detailed explanation. Put the user’s experience above everything else. If there is no room for more words, don’t add random sentences to increase the word count. 

Get Backlinks

Google always considers backlinks to determine the authority of your domain. Keep posting quality blogs on other websites and ask your competitors to link back to your website. It is the simplest and effective way to sustain your online business.

Read Also: How to Drive More Traffic to Your Website