The Google September 2019 core update should be just about done rolling out by now, and we wanted to share some early analysis on this latest update. We have data from a number of SEO tool providers, community reaction, and Google’s advice on this update.
What is a Google core update? A Google core update is when Google adjusts its core search ranking algorithm with the goal of returning more relevant and useful search results to the searcher. Google performs these updates every quarter or so, and for the past few updates, Google has confirmed them.
Rankings change. With any Google update, whether it’s a core update, quality update, or even some user interface updates, the search results change. Some sites may rank higher for their prime keywords, others may see a drop, and some may see no change at all. Click-through rates may be impacted by updates, and you may notice more or less traffic following these updates. Google made over 3,200 changes last year alone, but core search algorithm changes happen only several times per year, with significant core updates occurring roughly once a quarter.
Data on the Sept. 2019 Core Update. We have data from various SEO toolset providers. In aggregate, the data show that this September update was not as strong or impactful as the June core update. Overall, the September core update appears to have had a stronger impact on the YMYL (Your Money – Your Life) category.
RankRanger: The company told us: “As is typical with these core updates, the Health and Finance niches took the brunt of it.” The volatility of increases seen at positions 1–3 during the June update were substantially higher than what was observed with this [September] update.
Here is a chart showing the volatility by sector:
Here is a chart comparing the June to September core updates:
Sistrix: The company provided data around this update on Friday morning. It stated that its “initial impressions are that medical, media, and travel domains are included (from a global perspective).” In the USA, there are some clear winners, while for the losers, there are no significant examples to share at this time. The September core update shows less impact compared to the June core update. The DailyMail, which got hit hard during the June core update, saw a nice recovery according to Sistrix.
Other winners, as reported by Sistrix, include biologydictionary.net, autoguide.com, and additioncenter.com.
SEMRush: SEMRush stated, “At the moment, SEMrush Sensor shows the average level of volatility for September 25, 2019, the overall level of volatility is 4.7.” Volatility in some categories is higher, such as News and Sports, but these categories tend to have higher changes throughout the day. They did not observe a strong pattern for winners and losers with this update.
Here is the volatility broken down by category:
The biggest winners, according to SEMRush, were the DailyMail, eBackPage.com, lasd.org, and marionschool.net. The biggest losers included TheFourMusic.com, Monks.org, BraidingClub.com, PascoLibraries.org, and RoyalCaribbean.com.au.
The community. The SEO community has been very active in observing and reacting to this update. Here are some comments from the community:
Poll on Twitter:
Do you observe significant changes in rankings or traffic after the Google Sept. 2019 core update release?
- Big drop in June, and now a decent increase for a news website. (@kevinlevesquea)
- First time hit by an update, particularly affecting a small e-commerce section. (@AnyBoat1)
- Gains from previous updates but a hit this time around. (@Thatsbrisk)
- No change for a medical research site affected by the June update. (@pknoepfler)
- Sudden drop after an earlier gain for a medicine website. (@rakeshseo786)
- An anomaly in Google Analytics post-September Core update. (@HenryFunnell)
- Recovery signs after making site improvements post-June update. (@glenngabe)
- Positive changes after a significant drop in June. (@simplyAaronS)
- Massive drop since the March update but showing signs of recovery post-September update. (@TylerHanway)
- Nice traffic spikes for a medical site after the core update. (@Marie_Haynes)
Google’s advice. Google was initially reluctant to give any advice regarding core updates but later advised communities on coping strategies. Their primary suggestion is to focus on delivering high-quality content.
It is still early. The rollout might be wrapping up soon, but this is early data, and the situation could evolve in the coming days. Thus far, this update appears to have been less significant than the previous one. Websites should keep improving their content, driving traffic, and fostering user engagement to continually thrive.
