{"id":2742,"date":"2023-07-19T09:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T15:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.topspot.com\/blog\/?p=2742"},"modified":"2023-07-27T14:41:40","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T20:41:40","slug":"how-to-tell-if-your-website-has-been-affected-by-an-algorithm-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.topspotims.com\/blog\/2023\/07\/how-to-tell-if-your-website-has-been-affected-by-an-algorithm-update\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Tell if Your Website Has Been Affected By An Algorithm Update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally published on October 8, 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updated with Google Analytics 4 information on July 19, 2023 by Stefanie Thompson<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google makes hundreds of changes to the search landscape and the results you see every year. With so many updates, it is difficult to track how each one may or may not affect your online presence.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After an algorithm update, how can you tell if your website made it through unharmed? Given the recent move to Google Analytics 4<\/a>, we’ve updated this checklist to help your business determine the impact to your organic traffic after a search algorithm update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Confirming an Algorithm Update Happened<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Google algorithm updates are mostly industry-specific and aim to target certain business verticals. These roll out daily to help improve the organic search results<\/a>, sometimes without formal confirmation from Google. You can see the changes in the landscape and the fluctuations in rankings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most popular confirmed updates are known as Core Algorithm Updates<\/a> and are done several times a year. These updates are much more noticeable and can impact websites across industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To determine if an algorithm update has taken place, we recommend checking SEMRush’s<\/a> Google Algorithm Update History or checking Google Search Central<\/a> for announcements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Give the Algorithm Time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When launching any change, it takes time to fully take effect. It also takes Google Analytics 4 a few days to fully propagate, so if you react to things too soon,<\/strong> you could be working with inaccurate data.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember that core updates can take weeks to roll out, and search rankings will likely fluctuate during this period.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Search Engine Journal<\/em><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Check Your Analytics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In the original checklist, we recommended looking at Google Search Console within the Google Analytics platform. With the shift to Google Analytics 4<\/a>, this integration isn\u2019t as robust as seen in previous iterations, and today, this feature only shows limited data. Instead, go directly to the full version of Google Search Console in a later step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At TopSpot, we recommend starting in GA4 and looking at organic traffic trends overall using a date range that includes a few weeks before the update to identify dips or increases. Comparing date ranges can be tricky if any outside circumstances may impact your data. Consider marketing items like an email campaign or event, and holidays. Be sure to check your marketing calendar to keep those efforts in mind during the review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Go to Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition, then customize the date range using the compare feature to see changes in organic traffic.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Are the drops sitewide, or can they be drilled down to a specific page or two? To determine this, compare a date range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Go to Engagement > Landing Page, then customize the date range using the compare feature to see changes in organic traffic. You can use the search bar above the landing page listing to search specific pages.<\/em>

Generally, if your website is affected by an update, you will see traffic decrease as it relates to a decline in rankings for individual pages.

Finally, you can get a better page activity breakdown in the full version of Google Search Console.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Go to Google Search Console > Search results > Pages tab and be sure to adjust date range.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

These three steps can help you gather the necessary data to determine if performance was affected in a date range aligning to a recent update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4) Check Google<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most core algorithm updates target the page-level versus site-wide, but there are exceptions such as Panda<\/a> or the Helpful Content Update<\/a>. If you see a negative impact on your data after an algorithm update, it doesn\u2019t always mean your website was penalized, but previously under-recognized websites are now getting noticed. To determine if this is happening, do some searches and review the search landscape yourself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n