How to Recover from a Google Algorithm Update: Step-by-Step Analysis Guide

In case SEOs aren’t busy enough, Google is keeping us all on our toes with more core algorithm updates than ever.

On average, Google releases a new algorithm update every three or four months. Often, the release is done with little to no warning, leaving us digital marketers to play catchup in the wake of sweeping changes to the SERPs. 

But, while you may feel at the mercy of Google’s algorithm changes, your SEO strategy doesn’t have to be.

Today, we’re sharing our approach to evaluating and recovering lost traffic after a Google core algorithm update. In this guide, you’ll learn:

• Why we’re not too worried about Google’s updates
• Which tools we use to evaluate post-update site performance
• Which contributing performance factors we watch for
• And what follow-up steps we recommend for impacted websites

Need an expert to review your website performance post-algo update? We offer an Algorithm Update Analysis to get you the answers you’re looking for. Contact our team to schedule your site review today.

A Brief History of Recent Updates

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s recap the last few search ranking updates we’ve seen, starting with the tandem core algo/spam updates launched in March 2024.

Google’s first core algorithm update of 2024 was released simultaneously as a spam update. Both were part of the search engine’s long-standing “helpful content” initiative, designed to improve the quality of user searches by showing less low-quality content in the SERPs. 

Just a few months later, Google released a major update to the search engine result pages that, while not technically a core algo update, still rocked the SEO world. The AI Overviews feature added AI-generated content to the top of the SERPs, addressing searcher queries and increasing the frequency of zero-click searches.

While the AI Overviews feature has had its ups and downs (most notably, inaccuracy in responses), it remains prominent in today’s SERPs.

The video below is hosted on YouTube. If you need assistance with viewing the video, please contact info@goinflow.com.

In a break from tradition, Google’s next update in August 2024 was clear in its goals: to benefit the small and independent publishers disproportionately affected by the September 2023 helpful content update. (The reception from those publishers, however, was lackluster.)

Most recently, in November, Google launched its final core algorithm update of 2024. That means, as of this guide’s updated publish date, any effects from this most recent Google update should already be seen in your site’s metrics — for better or for worse.

For a comprehensive look at Google’s core algorithm update history, check out our complete timeline here.

The Hard Truth: The “Damage” is Already Done

If your website is feeling the effects of any of these core updates, take comfort in knowing that no quick fixes could have saved you from harm.

Google’s webmasters are notoriously vague about which ranking factors are tweaked when each core update is released, meaning you can’t make last-minute changes to your site to avoid a hit to your organic traffic. 

As we all know, SEO is a long game. The only way you can “take advantage of” a core update is to already be implementing a solid search engine optimization strategy of high-quality content across your site.

However, in some cases — like the 2020 Core Web Vitals update — Google will provide helpful tools for analyzing your site’s current performance ahead of time, giving you benchmarks to work toward. (If you haven’t already, use the Page Speed Insights tool to check your site, and then learn how to improve your Core Web Vitals scores accordingly.)

That’s why we highly recommend working with an expert SEO professional who stays up-to-date on Google’s guidelines, so they can prep your site as needed.

eComm Business? No Need to Worry

We’ve been shepherding dozens of eCommerce brands through Google updates over the years, and the vast majority have avoided any volatility in performance due to updates. In fact, most of their sites keep moving along like nothing has happened, even after the biggest of updates.

Save any upcoming eCommerce-specific updates, we anticipate the same for the future.

That’s not to say that you shouldn’t care. Even if a core update doesn’t affect your site, it’s still a good indicator of how Google’s algorithm is evolving and a good education for your ongoing SEO strategy. 

We recommend paying close attention to what digital marketing leaders are reporting, so you can adjust your long-term approach to what is (and isn’t) performing well for the SEO community.

How to Evaluate a Google Core Update’s Effects on Your Site

Admittedly, there’s a lot of mystery wrapped around Google’s ranking algorithm updates, but you don’t have to be in the dark about its effects on your site.

For this latest update and future ones to come, identify any clear changes to your organic performance by following our approach:

Step 1: Monitor site performance during the rollout period.

Google will sometimes announce upcoming core updates ahead of time, so you’ll know exactly when to start looking for traffic changes. Most updates take a few weeks to roll out completely; when evaluating site traffic, look at a period of about a month for the most accurate picture.

If your site has felt an impact from the update, it will be easy to see.

Here are some examples of surges I’m seeing. Some of the sites seeing increases have been waiting a long time (and have worked very hard to improve). I hope this sticks for them. Remember, the July update could reverse some this… Time will tell. pic.twitter.com/PeG9DjZQSM

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) June 6, 2021

We initially use Google Analytics 4 to evaluate any core update effects on our client’s sites. Our strategists typically check traffic reports every day (or every few days, depending on the size of the update) for a few weeks following the confirmed update. 

The video below is hosted on YouTube. If you need assistance with viewing the video, please contact info@goinflow.com.

As mentioned, most of our clients’ sites haven’t historically been impacted by recent updates — but, if they were, we’d see it in Google Analytics right away.

Step 2: Look for seasonality.

If a Google core update is rolled out during your business’s slow or busy season, you’ll need to rule out seasonality as a contributing effect. 

Let’s say your online store sells school supplies. If you see a jump in traffic and revenue after this summer’s update, it may not be an effect of the update at all — just a normal increase in parents getting ready for the back-to-school season. 

If your site sees a change in traffic after a Google core update, look at week-over-week, month-over-month, and year-over-year trends. Compare the results; if this traffic change is new to this season, it could be an indication that the Google update has affected your site.

Another example: One of our former eCommerce clients (a seller of cigars and cigar products) was concerned about a drop in organic traffic following a Google update in the winter of 2017. But, when we compared their January 2018 performance with that from a year before, we saw the same traffic drop.

Don’t have accurate year-over-year data to mine? You can also compare your site with Google’s overall trends. 

Here, we see a steep drop in “cigar shop” interest around January, indicating our client’s drop in traffic was indeed due to seasonality, not that winter’s Google update.

Of course, remember that YoY comparisons may not be 100% accurate if you’re comparing your GA4 to your Universal Analytics numbers. We recommend looking at multiple years, just in case.

You can also review competitors’ performance to confirm a seasonality drop.

Using these processes, we were able to eliminate the update as a contributing factor, understanding that this change was just a normal drop-off in cigar interest around the new year, perhaps due to New Year’s health resolutions.

Step 3: Consider searcher intent.

Even if you see a drop in traffic to your site after a Google update, it may not necessarily be harmful. Google often uses broad core updates to clean up keyword search results, reducing the number of irrelevant web pages for search queries. 

If your site was inadvertently ranking for an unrelated keyword or topic, the core update may have fixed that mistake — or, in the case of our own site, introduced the mistake!

While unrelated to a core update, an unconfirmed change in Google’s algorithm caused Inflow’s organic clicks to spike on March 25, 2021. Just a few days later, they dropped back down to normal levels.

Upon further investigation, we found out that our guide to Majestic SEO had suddenly started ranking in the Google search results for the phrase “explain the majestic benefits” — likely searched by students trying to avoid doing their homework for an unrelated topic. When it became clear that our guide was an irrelevant result, Google’s algorithm adjusted the SERPs.

Ranking for irrelevant keywords isn’t an uncommon issue, especially in websites with thousands of blog, product, and category pages. If you see similar fluctuations in sessions or keyword rankings over the next month, make sure to look at your revenue. If conversions and revenues are holding steady (or increasing!), there’s likely no reason to worry. 

Irrelevant keywords may have been the source of the traffic change, not a negative hit from a core update.

Rather have an expert complete this post-update SEO audit for you? Contact us today to request your Algorithm Update Analysis from our expert SEO team.

How to Recover Lost Organic Performance Due to a Google Algorithm Update

If your website traffic is hit by a Google core update, and it can’t be explained by seasonality, keyword cleanup, or another obvious reason, try to confirm the algorithm’s effects through additional tools, and then reevaluate your overall SEO strategy.

Step 1: Connect the free Panguin tool to Google Analytics.

The Panguin tool is one of our favorites for evaluating the timelines of Google’s updates compared to a site’s performance. It’s easy; authorize Panguin to view your Google Analytics data, and the tool will overlay Google’s updates on your performance data.

You can use the Panguin tool to look at older Google core updates and their effects, too.

Step 2: Check for patterns with Google Search Console.

If your site sees an unexplainable drop or increase in traffic, identify exactly where those changes are coming from with Google Search Console.

We use Google Search Console to see if a pattern of page types or keyword buckets has dropped or increased in search traffic. 

See our example below: 

Within a space of two months, one client saw a steep drop in clicks to a certain group of keywords. While this particular example was unrelated to a Google core update, if there had been an update around this time, this pattern would indicate we needed to look into the site performance a little closer.

By comparing this data with core update reporting from SEO experts, we can then determine whether those patterns align with the suspected algorithm changes. (Although Google typically doesn’t give details for which types of pages and industries are affected by a core update, digital marketers can often deduce what they are with a little detective work.)

If we see a similar pattern with page or keyword type, we automatically know what to focus on as we reevaluate our SEO strategy for that site. 

Often, the pages that take a hit are those we’re already aware of — those with thin content, overly long content, or otherwise poor content quality — and give our clients even more motivation to tackle those issues.

Take a closer look at your website performance by downloading our free Content Audit Toolkit today.

Step 3: Reevaluate your SEO efforts.

Not all Google algorithm updates are obvious. Usually, it’s difficult to identify exactly which technical and content SEO strategies are rewarded with core updates. We just see the final result in which kinds of industries and websites are most affected.

However, a core update can be the motivation needed to reevaluate your current SEO strategies. If you’ve got thin website content, now’s the time to beef up your SEO copywriting techniques; if your technical SEO setup leaves something to be desired, get a developer on the phone.

Some of the biggest SEO offenses we see from eCommerce sites?

• Lack of content on product and category pages
• Poorly optimized content or duplicate content on product and category pages
• Extensive keyword stuffing and blog-like content on product and category pages
• Lack of E.E.A.T. SEO principles (key for establishing content authoritativeness and trustworthiness)
• Site speed and technical issues (especially in regards to mobile user experience)

While solving these issues won’t immediately reverse any damage done, it will put your site in better shape for the Google core updates of the future.

Start identifying these common issues with our DIY guides:

• eCommerce Content Audit Toolkit
• How to Conduct a Technical SEO Site Audit
• Content Consolidation & Pruning: Complete Guide

The Best Core Update Defense: A Good SEO Offense

When it comes to Google’s core algorithm updates, the best use of your time isn’t trying to “game the system” with backlinks and other quick fixes; it’s creating a long-term, well-rounded SEO strategy that builds high-quality content based on proven strategies. 

If you’re seeing outsized effects on your organic traffic and website rankings after the latest core algo update, an expert can help you build a proactive strategy to regain that lost performance and to future-proof your SEO efforts.

Learn more about our cost-effective Algorithm Update Analysis by requesting a free consultation below:

We also recommend digital marketers and website owners stay up-to-date on Google’s search algorithm changes as they continue to roll out. For the best real-time coverage of ongoing updates, check out reporting from:

• SearchMetrics
• Marie Haynes
• Glenn Gabe
• Search Engine Land
• Barry Schwartz