“Appropriate” Reaction After A Google Update

SEOs often track rankings on a daily basis and as soon as any type of movement happens, either an increase or a decrease, the immediate thought is that – is there an update going on, then check Google Search Twitter Accounts or SEO Twitter accounts, some SEO news outlets, SEO mastermind groups, etc. for some […]
Marie Aquino
November 5, 2022

SEOs often track rankings on a daily basis and as soon as any type of movement happens, either an increase or a decrease, the immediate thought is that – is there an update going on, then check Google Search Twitter Accounts or SEO Twitter accounts, some SEO news outlets, SEO mastermind groups, etc. for some information on what could be going on.

Algorithm updates often cause worry and panic in the SEO community – will I experience a drop in rank, will my hard work finally pay off and will I see an increase? Is there really an appropriate reaction when it comes to updates?

Episode 48 of Search Off The Record Podcast is a live recording From Brighton SEO where John Mueller, Lizzi Sassman, and guest SEO Trainer Myriam Jessier answered some SEO questions that were submitted beforehand.

One question asked is, “What is the appropriate reaction after an update?”

Myriam Jessier shared how John Mueller has said in a previous update –  “What are you worried about? If you optimize things properly, and I trust you do, you should be fine.”

Mueller then responded with – “I mean, I’m pretty sure you have helpful content. Right?… Or are you going off and deleting half of the website when the update happens? Just to be sure.”

Based on their answers, there really is no appropriate reaction, why would their be? If you are doing things right and optimizing properly, then there is no cause for worry, as Mueller said.

But what if your competitors are found more favorable and rank higher than yours? Lol

SEO is a game and there are a whole lot of factors considered when it comes to ranking a site, add to how your competitors may be doing SEO too, and could be optimizing better than you, in Google’s eyes, in the next update. Worry and panic is normal in the SEO world, considering all those. All we could do is keep trying again, keep coming up with great content that benefits visitors, keep optimizing our sites, crossing our fingers every time the next update comes around.

Check out the Search Off The Record Episode here.