google-update-was-a-bug-afterall

Google Update August 2020 Was A Massive Bug: How To Protect SEO

by Robin Tran

NEW UPDATE: We’ve developed a full timeline of every single update so far from Google and how they change the SERP.

google-update-timeline
get-the-pdf-version-

After the Core Update officially rolled out on May 18. For a second, the entirety of the SEO community expected another big algorithm switch-up.

https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1262422181515980801

Either it’s Twitter or WebmasterWorld, everyone (maybe even you or your SEO-person) is up in arms about their flaming red ranking status.

how-the-seo-community-react

So what we’ve known so far about this event and what we can do about it?

magento_2_seo_extensions_and_free_audit

Let’s explore.

Round up of the bug

The changes in the rankings started around 2 pm ET but not until 5 pm that they noticed that it takes time for the Google update to be thoroughly carried out, which more and more users may realize unless Google reverses it. 

More Negative News Than Positive Ones.

On every SEO forum/platform, you can see the flood of negative results from this so-called “unconfirmed update.”

Here are some of the responses collected on WebmasterWorld and Black Hat World.

webmasterworld-on-google-update
black-hat-community-thread

There are many opinions, rumbling about the update, some found it frustrating and doesn’t even know what is happening right then, some say their traffic was dropping down, and some just assume this was just a bug or a glitch. However, we can’t deny that a significant movement has just taken place, and the SERPs were so unstable then.

Moreover, the results were all over the place. Even a company almost fell off the 1st SERP for their own company search term.

Another page that consistently remained in top #2 of the Google Search Console was wiped off the SERP in no time. 

But, we also saw others thrived during this fluctuation despite this being the minority.

It was not a good time for anyone who put their livelihood on Google’s ranking.

Good News! This Huge Google Update Was A Bug/Glitch!

John Mueller – Google’s expert on webmaster confirmed this in response to expressions about how burning-fire of an update it was.

https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1293045032124059649?s=20

After a day, the SERP has gone back to normal (mostly). You can see the massive change in the SERP between these two times on this Twitter thread:

Using the same tactic as Glenn Gabe, Brodie Clark – another SEO-beloved folk gave us another indicator to see the differences during the bug and after it gets fixed:

Ranking for other languages than English also get restored to normal:

IT’S JUST IN! The Glitch Was Caused By Google Indexing Mistake

Google Webmasters tweeted out the confirmation:

It’s hard to tell how mess-up the indexing got to the point the whole SERP turned upside down, but here are the main functions of the indexing system (courtesy of Gary Illyes):

  • ingests fetch logs,
  • pushes out and restores fetched data,
  • extracts micro-level factors: links, meta, and structured data,
  • extracts and calculates some signals,
  • set time for new crawls,
  • and builds the index that is pushed to serving.

From here, we must reckon this one and for all: you CAN NOT simplify search results. There is no way we can single out the one element that causes the SERP to go wild – they’re all inter-connected networks and systems!

Of course, knowing the starting point of the chain reaction can make use response much quicker. However, the connected tissues are too complicated for us to try and twitch it in hope things will get back to normal.

What Can Magento Users Do To Remain SEO Efforts In These Cases?

This tweet is terrific and self-sabotaging at the same time:

Of course, this bug is by Google; we can not reverse it by ourselves. But that doesn’t mean we can sit still and wait for the storm to pass. 

24 hours is a huge time window and can cost you massive amounts of revenue as an ecommerce. So what can we do here?

Ensure a concentrated, robust, and inter-connected SEO foundation!

And how can you do it? Install your ill-fitted SEO extension. 

CHECK OUT 5 Winning SEO Strategies to optimize your SEO better!

Concrete a flawless on-page SEO

Do you know why on-page SEO should be your main focus in SEO right now?

Because off-page SEO tactics such as link building are now considered of no value in Google’s algorithm. 

Let’s start with the SEO Toolbar powered by Magento 2 SEO extension, which brings you this report right away with visual cues to determine what needs to change quickly.

seo-toolbar

From here, you can click on Edit In Backend and take you directly to the admin panel to fix/update your SEO elements.

Subsequently, several admin-friendly features within the backend are also included. They’ll help you finish the SEO job easier and quicker than ever before.

seo-report
SEO Report with colored bar-indicator.
meta-template
Meta Template to quickly enable metadata.
alt-tag
Auto-generate function to equip all images with alt tags.

 

Beautify/specify SERP’s appearances with Rich Snippet

The default Magento falls short on this one; the 3 default snippets are not enough.

That’s why we give you more options to showcase your page on the SERP with style and strategy.  

For example, in response to your product’s search terms, information about rating, availability, price, and review is essential to make the 1st impression. Therefore, a rich snippet like this is highly recommended:

rich-snippet-product

In another case, you want to display your sitemap/category to show off your range of product to attract click from users:

rich-snippet-category rich-snippet-category

Furthermore, you can also add the site search box to your rich snippet – a highly interactive form of communication that will skyrocket your CTR.

Control your Google index with fineness.

Magento 2 SEO module by us helps you create HTML and XML at ease. This feature ensures both customers and web crawlers thoroughly know about your site’s architecture and easy to navigate on your website.

html-sitemap
HTML Sitemap for UX brownie point and Google Bots as well
xml-sitemap
XML Sitemap for Google Bot to read and index your site strategically.

No more duplicate problems harming your site

We ensure the uniqueness of your content with Canonical Tag and HREFLANG Tag. This way, search engines’ bots can always distinguish between your original content and the copy one.

canonical-tag

Take care of user experience with the ultimate care.

Here are our UX features that smooth out the experience on your site for any of your visitors. That way, you’re more likely to convert them into your customer:

  • Select the fix destination to redirect users coming to the deleted product pages
  • Specify a time window to keep redirect on the website
  • Adjust category priority ID to determine breadcrumbs
  • Support 2 types of Breadcrumbs: Use Short URL Path and Use Long URL Path
  • Easily change breadcrumbs path based on category priority ID

So what are you waiting for? How about a test run with support? Get it NOW.

Wrap Up

During this article, we’ve discussed the massive bug by Google on 10 August 2020. Also, I provided you the solution to minimize negative results from glitch like this on your website.

SEO-proof your site from the get-go is the ideal solution. However, there is never too late to use a helping hand.

Besides the extension we’ve talked about earlier, we can also assist you directly. If you find abnormal changes with your site’s visibility and need help with them, CONTACT BSS Commerce right now, we’re on 24/7 support!

BSS Commerce is one of the leading Magento extension providers and web development services in the world. With experienced and certified Magento developers, we commit to bring high-quality products and services to optimize your business effectively. Furthermore, we offer FREE Installation – FREE 1-year Support and FREE Lifetime Update for every Magento extension.

CONTACT NOW to let us know your problems. We are willing to support you every time.

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