Google has confirmed that the December 2020 broad core update that began rolling out on December 3, 2020, is now completely rolled out.
Google said, “the December 2020 Core Update rollout is complete.”
The facts. The December 2020 core update began to roll out around 1:00pm ET on Thursday, Dec. 3. Like all core updates, this was a global update and was not specific to any region, language, or category of websites. It is a classic “broad core update” that Google releases every few months or so. In this case, it was the longest stretch since a confirmed broad core update, one that took just under seven months, as opposed to the typical three-month timeframe.
It was a big update. According to many tool providers and the SEO community, this was a very significant update. Many who were either negatively or positively impacted saw gains or declines of 10% to over 100% of their previous levels of organic search traffic.
Previous updates. The most recent previous core update was the May 2020 core update, which was big and broad and took a couple of weeks to fully roll out. Before that was the January 2020 core update. The one prior to that was the September 2019 core update, which many SEOs and webmasters felt was weaker in impact compared to previous core updates. Google also released an update in November, but that one was specific to local rankings. You can find more information about past Google updates from other sources.
Timing the update. There has been concern about the timing of this update, released a couple of weeks before the holiday season. Google indicated it was done after the Thanksgiving season, after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but before the holidays. For some, especially those who make many of their sales right before the holidays, this update can be devastating to their business. The rollout was completed just several days before Christmas and during the Chanukah holidays – tonight is the 7th night of Chanukah.
What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past. There aren’t specific actions to take to recover, and in fact, a negative rankings impact may not signal anything wrong with your pages. However, Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update. Google did say you can see a bit of recovery between core updates, but the most significant change would occur after another core update. Now that the update is complete, you should know if your site was impacted and decide on the necessary course of action.
Why we care. It is often challenging to isolate what to do to reverse any algorithmic hit your site may have experienced. When it comes to Google core updates, it is even harder to do so. What this data, previous experience, and advice have shown us is that these core updates are broad, wide, and cover a lot of overall quality issues. Now that this update has been fully rolled out, it is time to dig into your analytics and data and decide on the next steps for the websites you manage.
