Updated January 13, 2023
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Recent Blip in Stats
Over the last week or so I’ve been pulling together year-end summary SEO reports for all my clients. I’ve noticed a consistent blip in their stats around the last week of December. I suspect a Google Algorithm change… yet the media has been eerily quiet.
A Rise Search Appearance
To put things into perspective, I manage hundreds of websites. While this may sound like a lot, it’s a very small sampling of data compared to the sheer number of websites on the web. This is important to note because I’m a data guy. I love digging into analytical reports to find trends and insights, I’m sharing my observations and inferences.
Ok… what did I see?
A significant rise in impressions. My theory is that Google released a December 2014 algorithm change that flew under the radar. You can test my theory by following these steps:
- Login to Webmaster Tools
- Choose Search Traffic
- Click on Search Queries
- Change the default so you can see at longer than 30 day time frame
Did you see a blip or dip? In our report, we also saw a peak in early December. Since we use White Hat SEO techniques, we saw an increase but not major dip in our website’s performance. We saw a spike in impressions and then it settled down again. What do you see? If you see a dip in your stats, I suggest you take this as a warning sign.
An Undocumented December 2014 Google Algorithm Change
So what’s the significance to this blip? I think it was a tweak to the search algorithm. Now that both Penguin (hits spammy links) and Panda (hits thin, useless content) are regular components to the algorithm, Google released an update that modified one or the other.
It’s typical to see fluctuations in this report. However, your trend line should show a slow and steady rise over time. That shows healthy SEO.
photo credit – top: flattop341
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