Possible Effect of the Medic Update

[liorenda]

Hi there,

I manage two brands which are both in industries related to the Medic / YMYL algorithm update.
I recently noticed that both brands maintained local rankings for their main keyword, but keywords in 2nd or 3rd priority (could be a variation on the main keyword) got hit pretty bad, both in local and organic results.

Did anyone else encounter something like that? Is it possible that the update emphasizes one keyword while diminishing others?

 

[Eric Rohrback]

I saw similar things in the medical malpractice field. There were multiple updates in November around the start and middle of the month which shook things up for a lot of businesses. Local pack remained consistent.

When things settled out I saw that more general terms were heavily dominated by industry-related directories (eg, findlaw/superlaywers), while specific injury type keywords were dominated by law firms.

Check the specific keywords that saw movement and look at the intent. General terms may have larger search volume, but it could be users that don't exactly know what their problem is yet. On the flip side, the specific terms means someone has done their research and has a pretty good idea what they need.

Local packs did not move (though one term actually had the pack move to the low middle/bottom of the 1st page for a while, then bounced back), but I saw patterns when looking at the keyword intent.

Check your terms and let us know what you think.