Updated January 13, 2023
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Sightings On or Around 8/20/13
You’ll see a Google algorithm update at least 500 times a year. You probably don’t notice a dramatic rise or drop in SEO rankings with minor tweaks. However, every month or two Google makes a major algorithmic change; it can really shakes things up. Google usually makes some official statement explaining the “what” and “why” behind it. However on August 20, the SEO earth rumbled and Google was radio silent. In this post I’ll give you a quick overview of the Google Algorithm update aftermath:
Multiple Confirmations of Google Algorithm Update
Moz noted a major spike in MozCast. By the way, this is a great tool for monitoring “SEO Weather.” It provides a snapshot of the turbulence felt by a Google Algorithm update. On August 20, temperatures soared to 103. Digging into the data behind this spike, I found:
- A significant shrinkage in SERP Count, representing Google results with less than 10 organic listing on the first page. In layman terms it means a bunch of domains were removed from the search results.
- An increase in Domain Diversity. This metric measures the percentage of unique sub-domains. Basically the less diversity there is, the more domain “crowding” is observed. This increase indicates more domains are represented in search. This is good news for the little guy who is creating great content that’s good for human searches. Yeah for White Hat SEO!
- A dip in the Daily Big 10. This metric is a kind of index. It looks at the big domains like Wikipedia, Amazon, YouTube, Facebook,etc. It tracks the percentage of page one results held by the top 10 sub-domains. If the big guys feel a hit, then you know an algorithm change has taken hold.
Not Many Sources for Info
Search Engine Roundtable noted something around 8/21. Barry Schwartz regularly monitors SEO chatter. He confirmed that Google hasn’t made any official statements. He references another Google Algorithm monitoring site, Algoroo. There was a definite spike on August 21.
I combed for other references to the August 20 Google algorithm update. There’s slim pickings and nothing of substance out there. Hence why I thought this overview would be so useful. Share a comment if you agree 😉
Moral of the Story
SEO rankings naturally fluctuate. If you follow Google quality guidelines, generate content that’s worth reading and sharing, then Panda and Penguin updates should pose little threat to your optimization and visibility efforts.
Heard something new about the August 2013 Google algorithm update? I’m all ears.
Online Marketing Automation
Its a very informative post about latest Google Algorithm Update. Thank you so much to The Spectrum Group Online LLC for sharing.
You’re most welcome.
Thanks for the post – I knew something was up. I have a site that is a few months old, but pretty strong IMHO as far as the quality of the content compared to the competitors in the keywords I am aiming for. I had grown naturally, nothing but white hat, and was up in the top 10 for a few key terms. Suddenly I am not deindexed but nowhere to be found.
The thing I don’t get, is that the crappier quality sites next to me in the search are still sitting right there. This kind of thing is super disheartening. Any advice?
There are alot of moving parts in SEO. Have you checked your Webmaster Tools? Look for any crawl errors and in the “Manual Actions” section (this reflects any webspam actions taken by Google). You’re right something sounds off, especially if you’ve focused on high quality content written for human consumption.