The SEO world witnessed an unusual change on May 22, 2021.
Here are three experiences that can give you a bit of a hint.
The first one is reported by a digital marketer:
“For weeks my home page and many of my main landing pages had dropped like a stone and the traffic was going to my interior pages. Now all of the sudden in the last few days this reversed back to a more normal pattern of home page receiving most hits, followed by my landing pages.”
Another marketer writes:
“This is hell. Never know what to do anymore, where to look…or what is actually evening happening.”
Finally, Berry Schwartz from Rusty Brick opines—
“The tracking tools are off the charts, all of them, showing changes in the Google Search results that I have not seen before in a long time. This is at the levels of a core update or the old Penguin and Panda updates.”
Well, all of these three experiences have one thing in common. They are associated with a new unconfirmed Google update that happened on May 22. This update has impacted the SEO rankings. I am sure you must have noticed some big changes in your search engine ranking on May 22, 2021.
So what is this new undeclared and speculated Google update? And how it has shaken the digital marketing world? Let’s delve into it.
22 May Google Update—What Really Happened?
May 2021 has been full of turbulent days for SEO, thanks to the unconfirmed updates that happened on May 7th and 9th, May 19th and 20th, May 1st, May 13th, and May 16th.
However, on May 22, the SEMrush sensor and other algorithm tools reported huge changes in the SERPs.
For example, SEMrush’s sensor which tracks all the SERPs changes triggered by algorithm updates has found something unusual in their reporting. It has reported 8.7 out of 10 on the scale, while its SERP volatility chart shows higher readings than normal.
The numbers are also found higher than normal in the readings as you can see below in the graphic.
Semrush:
Courtesy: Searchengineland.com
Here are some more illustrations of the chart numbers from other leading tracking tools.
RankRanger:
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
Advanced Web Rankings:
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
All these things indicate a huge algorithm update. But Google hasn’t confirmed anything yet as Barry Schwartz says—
“I asked Google about it, but I did not hear back from them. (Surprise, surprise.) The weird part is that with the May 22nd update, although the tracking tools were mostly all “off the charts,” the chatter within the SEO industry was not.”
While not all marketers are sure if this was a huge update, more sites have gone through significant changes in keyword ranking, but not to a greater extent. This might be the first time when a prospective Google update has “coincided with a knowledge graph update”.
Many experts have claimed that they haven’t seen such fluctuations in the volatility chart over the years. Therefore, the possibility of a new algorithm can’t be ruled out.
Some believe that a new update could be there to help E-A-T score rather than impacting the algorithms.
How it Impacts the Ranking and Traffic?
The results of these unconfirmed updates are not the same. Some webmasters saw a quick surge in their rankings while some noted a significant drop. And these tweets and forums snapshots say it all.
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
Sadly, May 22 update was not a pleasant surprise for everyone….
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
Courtesy: Seoroundtable.com
Courtesy: Webmasterworld.com
Is Google Likely to Confirm This Update?
Given its massive impact, one wonders if Google is likely to talk about this update. Based on their tendency to confirm the core updates in the past, one can hope that Google can confirm this update. But it is too early to say what kind of update this is.
Why Should You Care About This New Google Algorithm Update?
While this new algorithm is not confirmed, Berry advises marketers to keep websites updated and optimized.
He says,” I am thinking it might be something Google did that upset the tools but it is too early to tell. This does seem big and you should check the health of your sites in Google Search.”
Although Google is yet to confirm this update, make sure to keep your website optimized according to Google’s guidelines. After all, your website is primarily meant for the users, not for updates. If people are happy with your website, you are likely to enjoy an improved ranking.
Stay tuned for more updates!