Google Broad Core Update December 2020

[Zshan]

Cheap PBNs, spun content on backlinks, and just straight up obvious SEO work done that would make many members here think you'd get penalized in 3 hours. Never had a problem with it.


Gotta love how Google does updates right before Christmas like clockwork. Last year I lost a really profitable site because of it. Thanks for the Christmas gift ya *****.

I think it also depends on the Niche. I don't think it is good in a niche like health,finance etc.

 

[Sparrow]

Update: A bit early still but thought to post in case someone also has a similar experience...

One of my clients website in health has seen an uptick after losing some rankings in May. Now what did change since May for that website?

There was link building done but links won were more or less of same type of sites we did before May update.

A good push in getting social signals. Nothing spam, genuine social promotion.

No significant content additions or changes. Instead few pieces of content was deleted.

 

[El Flaco]

I'm glad I've diversified my portfolios of websites, not using the same SEO technics on each one.
I see some ups in some websites and decreases on others. At least, I am avoiding a big part of the stress at every update.

I am just really pissed at one website : one expired domain that was at the bottom of page 1 the whole year for the main keyword. I finally decided to buy good backinks on this forum only 2 days before this update. It went straight to 45th position with this update.

I can see one consistent trend with all the recent updates. Generic keywords are taken by authority ecommerces more and more. For example, it is now almost impossible to rank decently for "fridge" with a content website (with Amazon links). On the other hand, you can rank on "best fridge" with a content website.
My thought is Google will inundate those generic keywords with Google shopping. The quality of content of the ecommerce websites is really thin so it makes sense to click straight on the Google Shopping image. Google can bank hard on those keywords instead of simply using Adwords.

 

[nifras]

I saw the ranking goes up and down since last week

 

[GSERP]

Lets get update stable...

 

[fb3003]

if losing top position, please indicate the characteristic of the new number 1 ranked site. it would help others to see trends

 

[Betboss]

So far so good, I noticed some slight decrease on my older sites while the newer ones have doubled in traffic.

 

[Sparrow]

if losing top position, please indicate the characteristic of the new number 1 ranked site. it would help others to see trends

Exactly!

 

[Sparrow]

I'm glad I've diversified my portfolios of websites, not using the same SEO technics on each one.
I see some ups in some websites and decreases on others. At least, I am avoiding a big part of the stress at every update.

I am just really pissed at one website : one expired domain that was at the bottom of page 1 the whole year for the main keyword. I finally decided to buy good backinks on this forum only 2 days before this update. It went straight to 45th position with this update.

I can see one consistent trend with all the recent updates. Generic keywords are taken by authority ecommerces more and more. For example, it is now almost impossible to rank decently for "fridge" with a content website (with Amazon links). On the other hand, you can rank on "best fridge" with a content website.
My thought is Google will inundate those generic keywords with Google shopping. The quality of content of the ecommerce websites is really thin so it makes sense to click straight on the Google Shopping image. Google can bank hard on those keywords instead of simply using Adwords.

Am sure ur 45th position is not because of new links. Google takes some time to realize if new links r worthy to pass the benefit.

But in case u never built links to that website then u can make ur website do Google dance with new links.

 

[blueygg]

Funnily enough one of my sites has taken a liking to the update ....so far. Traffic has also had a spike.
- Site is more informational geared content
- Adding content 1-2 times a week
- No homepage PBNs but 10 or so inner post style PBNs
- Some forum + quora links
- Couple of good guest posts

My other site (built on expired domain) hasn't really been affected, traffic slightly on the low side. Some kw up, some down like usual.

 

[nSnoopy]

Quite a lot of dancing on my side, according to ahrefs i lost quite many keywords that were ranking Page3+
Let's see what happens in a week.

Edit:
First day after the update: my traffic went down by 50%, the weird part is that this website is pretty much whitehat.

 

[pathvinod]

Too Bad.

 

[homeriscool]

Edit:
First day after the update: my traffic went down by 50%, the weird part is that this website is pretty much whitehat.

Mine too. I noticed I edited a blog post the day before getting slapped to page 2 on Google. All I done was add internal links. Probably just bad timing but thought I would share it in case anyone has done the same.

 

[alekhardy13]

For me this update was really bad ! i think health niche is getting harder and harder! big websites with high authority dominating all over the place! i think EAT is links and nothing else!

 

[Ekalavya Hansaj]

There are way too many frequent updates in google's core algo off late. Is this because of the AI/ML receommendations?

 

[soa0611]

so from replies above:
- around 50% traffic decrease for many guys (me included)
- whitehat sites sucking, blackhat ones banking

 

[praetserge]

so from replies above:
- around 50% traffic decrease for many guys (me included)
- whitehat sites sucking, blackhat ones banking

Yeah, from reading a few threads on this forum about the December update, looks like most of websites which tanked had barely any links.
My opinion: it makes sense, if nobody shares or links to your site then maybe your content is not that good.

 

[homeriscool]

Yeah, from reading a few threads on this forum about the December update, looks like most of websites which tanked had barely any links.
My opinion: it makes sense, if nobody shares or links to your site then maybe your content is not that good.

Or maybe your site is new...

 

[rajputt65]

Google rankings gonna start doing dance now. Hope for the best and good luck to all rankers here.

 

[seomotionz]

so from replies above:
- around 50% traffic decrease for many guys (me included)
- whitehat sites sucking, blackhat ones banking

The way Google is ranking up all the copied or thin content. In my personal opinion Google's future doesn't look so bright.

And yesterday traffic was down by 30% today is around 40%.

Anyway best of luck man.

@praetserge Sites with links are also effected. Can't say which has been effected more until the dust settles.