Google announced it's rolling out a replacement core update, the December 2020 core update. this is often the third core update of the 2020 year, the primary one was the January 2020 core update and therefore the other was May 2020 core update.
Historically, Google has released a core Google algorithm update every few months approximately. it's been almost seven months since the May 2020 core update, which happened on May 4, 2020. So this one took tons longer than previous updates to roll out.
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:https://t.co/e5ZQUAlt0G
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) December 3, 2020
The announcement. Here is Google’s tweet announcing it, where Google said “later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per annum. it's called the December 2020 Core Update.”
Roll out started at 1 pm ET. Google has updated us that Google has begun rolling out this December 2020 core update at around 1 pm ET, which is 2 and a half hours after Google said it might roll out.
Google said, "The December 2020 Core Update is now rolling live longer than as is typical with these updates, It'll take about one to 2 weeks to fully roll-out.”
Previous updates. the foremost recent previous core update was the May 2020 core update, that update was big and broad and took a few weeks to completely roll out. Before that was the January 2020 core update, we had some analysis thereon update up here.
The one before that was the September 2019 core update. That update felt weaker to several SEOs and webmasters, as many said it didn’t have as big of an impression as previous core updates. Google also released an update in November, but that one was specific to local rankings. you'll read more about past Google updates up here.
What to try to do if you're hit. Google has advised on what to think about if you're negatively impacted by a core update within the past. There aren’t specific actions to require to recover, and actually, a negative rankings impact might not signal anything is wrong together with your pages.
However, Google has offered an inventory of inquiries to consider if your site is hit by a core update. Google did say you'll see a touch of recovery between core updates but the most important change you'd see would plan another core update.
What I can understand from this all?
1) Communication is key: Over-communicate with your team, clients, and business stakeholders.
(2) Re-visit your reporting plan: Ensure that you're monitoring and reporting on critical metrics for yourself and your competitors.
(3) Don't rush into theories: It's a core update, it's evaluating your website as a whole rather than this "one change" you did to your site a month ago. Don't rush into theories or assumptions.
(4) Share your learnings: We work in an industry full of thousands of people who are keen to share their knowledge and learnings. Get involved in these conversations, ask questions, and share your knowledge (openly and kindly).
(5) Evaluate the best plan forward: Whether you're impacted or not, ensure you have a clear plan on how to continue optimizing your website that's closely aligned with the business KPIs.
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