Google make minor algorithm changes regularly, so we don’t typically see the massive swings in rankings that happened with the likes of Panda and Penguin.
The one exception may have been the Bert update that launched on October 22, 2019 which focused on low quality poorly written content.
Along with the regular minor updates, Google still rolls out larger core updates every few months. This can be as often as every three months, but the last one occurred in May 2020, so we have been waiting for a long time for a new one to occur.
As of the 3rd of December 2020, it has been confirmed that Google is releasing a broad core algorithm update. We don’t get nicknames anymore, so this is imaginatively called the December 2020 Core Update.
Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the December 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog post for more about that:
The rollout began at 6PM UK time on the 3rd, and will typically take around 2 weeks to fully complete.
For several of our sites, we have seen a moderate uptick in the rankings so far. January was a big update for our sites with a massive improvement, May saw a small decline. Hopefully, rankings will continue to improve further.
One of the main aspects of SEO that we have focussed on in recent years is the development of quality unique content, rather than relying on link building. This is a slow and time-consuming process, but it appears to have paid off.
We strongly encourage clients and other website owners to focus on writing regular content, it doesn’t always have to be sales orientated or even highly specific to what you do. General industry content, even offbeat content can help develop trust with Google, as long as it is relatively on topic with your industry.