How to Deal with Another Algorithm Update?

We know that the so-called Medic Update is old news by now. Furthermore, since then, we have had another one - the March 2019 Core Update (also known as Florida 2). In theory, that is already behind us, and we should move on and prepare for the next update - at least that is the impression you might get reading various guides and articles that pop up everywhere after a major algorithm update. However, we are not here to talk about specific reactions, but about consistent action. Today's case study is meant to serve as proof that the best response to any update is the consistent implementation of a previously adopted approach. While it is true that it is good to constantly improve your established tactics, there is no need to constantly worry about major changes and live in a state of continuous uncertainty. Stay calm and be consistent. That is all it takes 🙂 Get ready - it is time for the details! If you really just want a summary, scroll down to find the tl;dr version.

Brief Summary of the Situation

As you probably know, one of the most important changes in the SEO industry in 2018 was the Medic Update. The global algorithm update that took place in August hit many types of businesses, mainly those offering YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) services, meaning those in the finance and health industries. To learn more about the algorithm itself, check out this article. At Neadoo, we had the privilege of working with one of the largest brands in the dental industry in Lithuania. Our story is a good indicator of what steps need to be taken to rebuild a website after a drop caused by the Medical Update. Below, we present a case study detailing the entire process through which we managed to completely restore traffic after the drop and increase it even further.

Results After the Drop, or How the Medical Update Affected Our Client's Performance

Our first contact with the client was in August, right after the initial drops caused by the algorithm change. We reached an impasse. In the meantime, the client experienced another traffic drop, this time twice as large as the previous one (from 200-300 clicks per day down to 60-100). During the ongoing negotiations, the client tried working with a local agency - their efforts focused on finding a way out of the difficult situation.

We cannot say exactly what actions were taken, but it is safe to say that the results were not satisfactory. This prompted our client to trust Neadoo Digital. They decided to work with us. As a result, the client's website regained its top positions and also saw growth in traffic.

Our Actions - What Did We Do?

We started working on the website in November 2018, when organic traffic reached a critical level. The website saw a drop even in brand-related queries: The drop was significant - from the first position in search results, the website fell to the bottom of the first page of search results, reaching an average position of 6.5.

As part of our standard procedures, we start with a comprehensive on-site analysis, moving on to the off-site analysis later. However, in this situation, we decided to reverse the order.

Off-site Audit

As mentioned above, given the drastic drops, we decided to start our process with a comprehensive backlink audit. In YMYL industries (especially after the Medic Update), we pay special attention to E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) both in on-site activities and when acquiring backlinks. Therefore, domains pointing to our client's website should have a close connection to the medical industry, with a special focus on dentistry. Considering the market our client operated in (Lithuania), the options are limited. Here, however, while analyzing the old link profile and planning further actions, we cared deeply about high-quality backlinks from expert articles created by the team, which also influences author authority. Analyzing the link profile provided to us, we managed to single out some links that we considered harmful, built using old PBNs and directories whose quality could be described as questionable at best. One of the pages was also subject to a large volume of spam links in a short period of time. We decided to submit the domains we managed to filter out using the disavow tool. Despite our reservations about the effectiveness of this tool, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity it offered. Tip: This type of analysis can be conducted using automated tools with a large database of domains, e.g., link detox. However, if the number of linking domains is not large enough, it is a good idea to perform this type of audit manually. Such an analysis will certainly work well in niche markets like Lithuania, where the tools mentioned above may not yield satisfactory results. You can prepare this type of audit using a simple Google Sheet. To do this, consider pulling links from several sources. We use GSC, Ahrefs, and Majestic. To make your job easier, export one link per domain and combine the data from all tools into a single spreadsheet (additionally, you should filter out duplicate domains from different tools in the shared sheet). Ultimately, you should get a clean list of links with all the key data (e.g., target URL, anchor text, DR, etc.) that need to be reviewed for harmful backlinks. The next step was competitor analysis and acquiring valuable t thematic domains where we published expert articles written by specialists working at the client's clinic. We know, we know. What a shock. We decided not to write the articles in-house! But on the other hand, doesn't the client know better what they're talking about than we ever could?Tip: The Ahrefs tool can be used for a simple analysis of competitors' backlinks. For this purpose, you can also use the Link Intersect tab, which allows you to list domains that competitors link to. That concluded the first stage. What now?

On-site audit

The comprehensive on-site audit we implemented consists of many elements: from technical analysis, through content, to valuable tips for further website development. This allows us to show the client the current state of affairs, as well as develop a plan that we will implement across all our future work for the client. It is important that the client knows what they should focus on themselves. In this case, however, the situation differed from the standard scenario because the client had previously already achieved top positions for most major keywords, and the website was already partially optimized.

Technical audit

We began the technical analysis with the standard elements that contributed to the final results. First and foremost, we checked page loading speed using several popular tools: GTMetrix:

Lighthouse:

Pingdom Tools:

Despite good results, we also presented recommendations for further improving page load speed, including:

• Serving resources from a consistent URL
• Minimizing the amount of render-blocking resources
• Additional image compression

The next step was to eliminate any issues with page indexing. In this case, we worked on removing all low-value pages from the index, including pages for individual images that were being redirected to their destination location. In our work, we also addressed all errors that appeared in Google Search Console.

We also merged pages that were internal duplicates, while minimizing content duplication issues. One of the biggest problems we encountered during the site audit was incorrectly generated URLs. Because of them, canonical links and hreflang tags were confusing search engine crawlers. Example:

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://example.lt/service//”>

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.lt/en/en/staff/">

After resolving this issue, we also fixed all internal links pointing to these types of URLs. All URLs with errors on the client's site were redirected to the home page using a 301 redirect, which resulted in soft 404 errors. We resolved this issue as well. We added a dedicated 404 page, along with an appropriate redirect map for old URLs, which we were able to obtain from GSC and Ahrefs, among others. Tip: Check the lists of pages that currently generate 404 errors. They can often be redirected to related target pages, for example, to recover some of the power flowing from backlinks. This type of data can be obtained from Google Search Console, though it is also worth checking Ahrefs to see if there are links pointing to such pages. Other improvements concerned standard elements that we always take into account during website optimization, including:

• internal linking
• site structure
• headings
• meta tags
• redirects, etc.

Due to a drop in brand-related queries, we also focused on strengthening the brand. Our efforts focused mainly on microdata adjustments, proper brand implementation across various website elements, and standardizing it across all site tags. During one of the final phases of implementing our work, we also decided to try a few unconventional solutions. Observing the results after implementing individual parts of the optimization process, we took a risk and changed the URLs on the pages that had lost the most traffic. Correcting the URLs and setting up an appropriate 301 redirect from the old one proved to be an excellent choice. Tip: Changing a URL and using a 301 redirect creates a kind of filter, especially if the pages were previously heavily linked. Such actions always carry some risk, but in this case, the approach proved successful.

Content analysis

When analyzing content in terms of E-A-T, we focused on the topical relevance of landing pages. The content on them had to strictly respond to questions related to a given topic, avoiding general issues that often arise during the analysis of content previously written for SEO purposes. We also divided extensive landing pages into sections with appropriate anchors, which allowed us to create a clearer content structure on the page. In many cases, this solution allows for displaying an additional element in the search results. During the content analysis, we also focused on reducing the number of keywords used, replacing them with synonyms and variants. Tip: When analyzing a site after drastic drops, it is worth paying attention to the specific landing pages that saw the largest drop in traffic.

It is also worth analyzing specific keywords in terms of saturation and link building.

Further Growth Opportunities

Every audit should not only provide guidelines regarding problems that need fixing, but also plans for the website's further development. In this case, we focused on building trust and site authority by expanding the blog section with new, valuable, expert articles, acquiring new reviews, and enhancing existing pages with relevant content. We created a Content Plan. Additionally, we highlighted the client's results in the SERPs using a star rating system.

Tip: There are many ways to implement this type of solution. If you do not have significant programming skills, you can use ready-made solutions. For example, in WordPress, you can obtain properly marked-up star ratings using the WP-PostRatings plugin. Similar results can be achieved using something like the Easy Table of Contents plugin. Remember that after implementing any elements related to structured data, you should verify whether they have been correctly implemented using the structured data testing tool.

Results

We had to wait until the end of November to see the results of our on-site and off-site efforts. After less than 2 months of intensive work, we reached about 6 thousand clicks! For comparison, let us recall that at its worst moment, the website was generating 1.2 thousand clicks per month.

We managed to recover the pre-drop traffic after just 3 months. In January, we reached 8 thousand clicks per month:

And currently, we are generating even more growth:

CRO and Increasing Conversion Rates

Recovering from the crisis left behind by the Medical Update was just one of the goals we managed to achieve. Ultimately, it is the conversion rate that truly matters to the client. While working on recovering lost traffic, we also conducted a comprehensive CRO analysis. Thanks to its implementation, we managed to increase the site's conversion rate by almost 29% compared to the pre-implementation period.

Conclusions

As you can see, even in a short time, with proper dedication we managed to recover the website's rankings after a very significant drop. It often happens that the single factor you are looking for - the one that caused the drop following the algorithm update - simply will not bring the expected results. The key here was the comprehensive analysis we carried out. We know from experience that with such major algorithm changes, there are far more such factors, which is why it is essential for a thorough analysis to serve as the starting point for your actions. It is crucial to take a close look at the analyzed site in terms of backlinks, optimization, and the content itself. Even if the site previously achieved top rankings, it does not mean that the page and content optimization are at the right level. It is also worth examining the SERP results to find out who is currently leading and, most importantly, whether the search intent behind the results has changed. Google Sentiment may might not be a strictly evaluated factor, but Google is certainly flirting with the idea of testing what users like. Behind all of this are NLP (Natural Language Processing) and ML (Machine Learning).(Phew... Looks like the days of "paying for rankings" are finally gone for good :P)Thank you for taking the time to read our post! Feel free to ask questions in the comments section - we will be checking in regularly to answer your questions. You can also write to us directly at: [email protected] those who are particularly curious, we have prepared a list of recommended tools 🙂Plugins / tools we talked about:

1. Disavow Tool - https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main?pli=1
2. Link profile analysis tool - https://www.linkresearchtools.com/seo-tools/link-audit/link-detox/
3. Competitor backlink analysis - https://ahrefs.com/blog/get-competitors-backlinks/
4. Wordpress, star rating - https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-postratings/
5. Wordpress, get anchors - https://pl.wordpress.org/plugins/easy-table-of-contents/
6. Page Speed - https://gtmetrix.com, https://developers.google.com/web/tools/lighthouse/ , https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/ or https://tools.pingdom.com/
7. Structured data testing tool - https://search.google.com/structured-data/testing-tool/u/0/