Big or small, any updates or changes to the Google algorithm are big news for anyone who relies on a website for traffic and business. The latest Google update on September 27 was considered a “small” update and it is thought to be all about relevance and AI.

Most Recent Google Update

By focusing on not only the links that are connected to your site, but the relevance and usefulness of these as well, the update could be a problem for those using Blackhat methods, according to experts at Search Engine Journal.  The addition of a neural network to further increase relevance and decrease useless or unrelated results is a likely candidate for the focus of the September update, according to Search Engine Journal.

Updates are created to refine search results and make it more likely that searchers can find what they are looking for online – without frustration or irrelevant links. Google routinely creates updates of its search algorithms; some are broad and sweeping, while others are minor tweaks.

Since Google has not really released much detail about the most recent update, beyond confirming its existence on Twitter.

More Google Updates – Medic

Medic, as the name implies, impacted health, wellness and medical sites; this is one of the first broad SEO updates to target a specific niche or topic area. According to SEO Roundtable, about half of the sites that reported having a negative result after the update were health related. Others were ecommerce (some also in the health vertical) and lifestyle. Brands in these verticals should check traffic and results for the months leading up to August, and then the month of August itself to see if they have been impacted by this large but relatively focused update.

What to do about SEO and Google’s Algorithm Updates

The best thing to do now and any time that an update is announced (or discovered) is to review your own results and ranking. If site traffic stays about the same and your SERPs and rankings have not changed, you are likely not effected.

If you did see a drop in traffic or results, Google’s advice is to continue building quality content and checking your results. Checking your traffic and results regularly will help you identify trends and what your expected levels should be; you’ll be able to tell at a glance if your ranking or traffic has been impacted by a Google algorithm shift of any size.

If you are concerned about your website health, contact our team of Atlanta SEO experts.