Impacts of Google Core May 2020 Algorithm Update on Industries
Only a few months after its Core January 2020 update, Google launched its second update on May 4 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Feeling apprehensive?
Your Adword specialist may explain the impact of the newest Google Core May 2020 update on your brand, website, and its rankings.
Let’s face it – Google Core May 2020 update is big and even edges out its earlier version in January!
Mordy Oberstein from RankRanger calls it “an absolute monster” because many industries have absolutely rocked it, while others turned out to be sheer losers.
Initially, every category experienced the highest SERP volatility rates, ranging between 9 and 9.4 points. So, we can expect the latest update to have a much stronger influence on SERPs and your website rankings.
The success rate will depend on the industry you belong to and how your Adwords expert will leverage the impact of May 2020 Core update to improve your visibility on the search engine result pages.
In this blog, we will discuss what’s the newest Core update have in store for you and who’s on the winning or losing side of it.
Effects of May 2020 Core Update on Rankings Volatility
The latest update is causing significant website ranking volatility and instability in the SERPs.
RankRanger shared the following chart to compare rankings volatility between January and May 2020 Core updates for the search terms they monitored:
Source: RankRanger
The chart clearly indicates that the May update is more volatile and impactful than the January update.
Perhaps the reason is COVID-19. Google Ads experts and SEO specialists do think that coronavirus pandemic has played a strong role in influencing the rankings volatility after May 2020 Core update.
Impact of May 2020 Google Core Update on Different Industries
Let’s understand who are clear winners after Google Core latest algorithm update and which industries are on the losing end.
According to a study by SEMrush, the industries that are most affected by the new update and in line with coronavirus trends are – Real Estate, Travel, Health, People & Society, and Pets & Animals.
The rankings volatility in these industries has been experienced across both desktop and mobile searches.
Here’s how RankRanger explains how the update has impacted the top three positions on the Search Engine Results Page according to their niche:
Source: RankRanger
While it is not surprising for YMYL (Your Money Your Life) niches like Finance or Health witnessing an increase in ranking volatility for the 1st position in almost double digits, it is completely surprising for non-YMYL niches like ecommerce.
This uniformity in the results for both YMYL and non-YMYL niches is what makes Google Core May 2020 update more unique.
SEMrush also highlights the industries that have been positively affected due to this major Google Core update – News, Business & Industrial, Online Communities, Health, and Arts & Entertainment.
Plus, PR sites are also experiencing a spike in their SERP rankings, except a few outliers such as allmusic.com and nypost.com.
Here’s how SEMrush charted the distribution of winners by categories:
Source: SEMrush
Keeping these trends in mind, you should consider optimizing your SEO and Adwords PPC campaigns to address this challenge and generate improved results.
What Should You Do to Improve Rankings amidst the May 2020 Core Update Pandemonium?
Yes, rankings are fluctuating – for worse or better – in the search engine result pages.
However, Google has highlighted that a negative SERP ranking does not necessarily indicate poor website SEO, and in fact, there are no particular actions you can take to recover.
According to Danny Sullivan, “There is no fix for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content.
Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.”
So, here’s what your Google Adwords expert can suggest to re-evaluate your content quality and offer fresh, unique and relevant information that matches the searcher’s intent.
- Focus on Content Quality
Yes; content quality now counts more than authority, suggests Google.
And this has significantly affected the ranking positions after the Core May 2020 update.
You could now see hub pages ranking in the top 10 results, while those for tag or category pages have dropped.
According to SEO experts and Google Adwords consultants, the searcher’s intent behind a query has played an integral role in the update.
As stated by Niels Dahnke, the Head of SEO at Suxeedo, “Anyone who has tried to combine everything on one target page and thus does not have a clear focus, apparently sends such unclear signals to the algorithm that such pages have lost their rankings.”
This also holds true for your PPC ad copy and the landing pages or product pages it directs to.
Keeping this in mind, your Google ads consultant may put more emphasis on creating excellent-quality content that is comprehensive, engaging, and insightful.
Ensure the content adheres to Google’s E-A-T, i.e. Expertise, Authority, and Trust. Your PPC company or content developer should focus on creating in-depth and well-researched content that showcases your expertise in the specific field of knowledge.
At the same time, it should be one-of-a-kind and most relevant to the search intent.
This would reflect your authority and help build trust in the minds of your readers.
- Structured Data May Help Improve Page Rankings
This is one of the most effective content marketing strategies that only the best PPC company will recommend – make your content most relevant to humans, but also ensure it is readable by Google algorithms.
Proper content structuring with title, description, H1 and H2 titles, alt tags, schema markup, etc. make it easier for the algorithm to crawl the page and determine its Expertise, Authority, and Trust factors.
- Links are Still Important
Internal and external links continue to be an important rank-determining factor.
Your internal and external links communicate a lot about your content quality, brand authority, and credibility of the sites you link to.
Conclusion
The newest Google Core May 2020 update is “big and broad.” The ranking volatility will continue unless another update comes.
Till then Google suggests dealing with the situation by continuously updating and optimizing your content.
Hire an expert PPC marketing company to understand how May 2020 Core update will affect your PPC ad rankings on SERP.
Leveraging their in-depth knowledge and skill, the PPC firm can implement definitive strategies to boost rankings and drive more clicks.
Your PPC expert will focus on improving the quality and relevance of your ad creative, landing pages, or product pages to help battle the Core May 2020 challenge.
Seek professional Adwords consulting for impressive results.