Google Local ranking update?

[rustybrick]

Are you seeing fluctuations with your clients? Local RankFlux - Monitor Volatility in Google’s Local Algorithm shows changes today.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Barry,

Thanks for asking. Yep, I'm seeing some pretty giant shifts on the handful of clients that I just checked. Here are some examples.

 

[dwrdvns]

Any info on if only certain industries have been impacted?

 

[JoyHawkins]

Some of the clients I checked were lawyers, lawn care, private investigators, and insurance. I was seeing changes for all of them so it doesn't appear to be specific to an industry.

BrightLocal's tool allows you to isolate certain industries though and compare it to the average: Local RankFlux - Monitor Volatility in Google’s Local Algorithm

 

[dgonynor]

Hey Joy- Thanks for the tip on the BrightLocal tool. Does it also provide the tracking charts that you shared above? Dave

 

[GuyFinley]

Working through my client list and would usually be doing this Monday (first of the month) but from the few I spot-checked I'm definitely seeing the same thing.

 

[CarrieHill]

Any info on if only certain industries have been impacted?

Hey Dave - yes those charts are from a client's Bright Local account.

 

[StephanieNewton]

Hey all! Just a heads up that my colleague Rosie (Local RankFlux wiz) has put together a blog breaking down some of the data that we saw last week if anyone's interested Are We Experiencing a Local Algorithm Update? [Local RankFlux Data - February 2021] - BrightLocal

 

[djbaxter]

See also

Core Web Vitals & Page Experience for Local Businesses

We look at how the update will work and provide some clear and actionable steps to help you optimize your local business website for it.

www.brightlocal.com

Google is currently putting together the final changes for a search algorithm update that they’ve announced will land in May 2021.

The update is being called the Page Experience update because of its focus on usability rather than things like keywords or search relevance. Google has already provided some information on the update, which aims to measure and potentially rank the experience that a user encounters when visiting a page.

The fact that Google have given so much warning about the update says all you need to know about how seriously to take it. We know it’ll impact organic search results but as of yet, there’s no word on whether there will be any specific impact on Google My Business rankings.

At the very highest level, the update will for the first time implement the Core Web Vitals that Google defined in 2020 into the search algorithm. The aim of those metrics is that users should have a web experience that is straightforward, reliable, safe, and works great on any device.

The Page Experience update is ultimately the leveling up of those metrics from a ‘request’ to a ‘demand’, in that, theoretically at least, your local business site will perform worse in search if a comparable competitor is performing better in Core Web Vitals.

 

[Paul Kargo]

Has anyone got to know what exactly happening with this update, I am seeing giant shifts on many of my sites.

 

[carolyn2]

Technically, it's still running. So far what we've seen is a higher correlation overall in the area of LSI, entities and keywords and less on backlinks. It's still running so I'd say hang on.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I'm seeing lots of changes but I'm not 100% sure what the patterns are yet. One thing I found really fascinating for one client I was observing was that they saw HUGE gains for terms in cities they are not located in (like 30 min away). These two examples are 2 different cities, neither of them are the city the client is located in.

 

[vajavaja16]

My website has a lot of problems after this update. Does anyone know anything? Is there any solution yet?