Google’s November core update 2021 has been in place for weeks now. So it’s the perfect time we look into the impacts of the latest Google updates.
The best approach would be to do a thorough review of this update, including what a Google core update is, what is in the November 2021 update, a comparison with the previous July update, and discuss the overall impates. So let’s get started.
What is a Google Core Update?
Google keeps updating its algorithm for improvements. Most of them are minor changes that go unnoticed. Those who make the headlines are the major ones, rated as core updates. Google makes extensive changes to its search algorithms several times a year.
These changes in Google’s algorithm obviously affect page ranks on the SERP. Some lose their rank, others gain up to fill that place. Then content managers have to go over their content again, update those, and ensure the content offers the best under the new Google search algorithm.
But that’s all for good. Google’s core updates are made to improve the user experience and make the search results more natural. Like they introduced new ranking factors like Core Web Vitals, which prioritize content, and websites that are more user friendly.
What do the November 2021 Core Google Updates bring?
The update is also called a spam update. The search algorithm is updated to clear the negative influences from the search index. Google is focusing on improving it’s Ai with machine learning models like FLAN. What this model does is focus on the natural languages to detect the robotic and spammy content and make the search result more organic and pure.
If you wonder how to rank in SERP in an organic way, here are some SEO tips to optimize your website for search engines.
What is the impact of the November 2021 core update?
From the surface level, it seems like not much has changed. Only some sites that the algorithms think is spammy are whipped out from the SERP. So, the algorithm changes aren’t intended to impact much on rankings compared to previous updates. Besides, some of the pages might go up, and some may fall down. But it’s only natural, the least you could expect after core Google updates.
However, when you look deep into it, there are some details to examine. In the top 5 positions, there aren’t many shake-ups. Only a few ups and downs have happened in the top tire. In terms of 5-10 positions, there are some changes, higher than the top 5 at least.
Looking at the numbers, URLs gained an average of 10 positions, while the biggest winner climbed up 33 positions. As for the losers, the average position drop is 16, and the unluckiest one lost 27 positions in the SERP.
If your site has a dip in rank, there are SEO tools to analyze why it happened. We’ve listed popular SEO tools to help you with this.
Google’s November core update: In contrast with the July core update
There are some differences spotted between the July 2021 update and November 2021update. First of all, the volatility rate is higher. The November update is 12% more volatile for the desktops. While the percentage goes up to 23% for mobile devices. However, volatility stayed shorter than the July update.
Furthermore, the rate of lower-ranked pages crushing into the top 10 is higher this time. Following the November 2021 update, almost 7% of URLs gained a top 10 rank in SERP, from a position below 20 previously. In contrast, this rate was 5% after the July 2021 update.
However, things remained quiet in the top 5. Only 4.4% of pages beyond 20 positions could make it to the top 5 this time. While the rate was 7.4% prior to the July update.
However, things remained quiet in the top 5. Only 4.4% of pages beyond 20 positions could make it to the top 5 this time. While the rate was 7.4% prior to the July update.
Note: All the stats and numbers are collected from a SEMRush analysis and report.
How volatile was the November core Google update 2021?
Majority of search marketers have agreed to the point that it is comparatively a mild update. That reflects on the SERP volatility too. There are some temporary spikes in the volatility of search results.
As mentioned earlier, the latest update has some significant increase in volatility, compared to the previous update (July 2021). But it wasn’t a stable one. As reported by SEMRush, the volatility just lasts for two days before the update. Things went back in order even sooner than the July update.
Final Thoughts
As new algo updates arrived, there’s always a moan over losing the rank. But remember, if some sites are losing their ranks, that means other sites are replacing them, gaining a higher rank.
With the latest Google updates 2021, the same thing happened. However, changes aren’t as vibrant as the previous updates. That is because, as many of the experts predict, it is a partly infrastructure update that led to the foundation of a shift in the underlying algorithm architecture.
That means, as a content marketer, or an SEO expert, you need to be fully focused on the content more than ever.