Well, I have followed these steps to keep his and my other client’s websites safe from Google Search’s Algorithmic Updates in 2024. I am sure that these steps will keep your website traffic safe from the upcoming updates in 2025. Read on!

Investigate Your Current Situation

Working in SEO and digital marketing, the first thing I have learned in my career is to first evaluate where your website is currently standing. Then, you move on with your strategies. How would we know what the next Google Core update will hit? 

That’s why it is important to pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of your website. This self-assessment will let you know the potential vulnerabilities and areas for improvement. 

Your Websit’s Current Performance

This is a part of self-assessment where you analyze your website’s current performance using a combo of tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and other third-party platforms like Ahrefs or Semrush. 

You don’t want to lose your web traffic to the next Google Algorithm Update. So, connect your website with the Google Search Console to get insights on how Google Search views your website, including indexing errors, crawl issues, and manual actions. At the same time, Google Analytics is equally important for website owners as it provides valuable data on user behavior, including traffic sources, user demographics, and on-site engagement metrics.

I closely examine these reports for any major ranking drops, traffic fluctuations, or unusual patterns in search console data. For example, if you see a sudden drop in organic traffic for a specific keyword, know that there might be a possibility that it happened because of a recent algorithm update.

Check For Vulnerabilities

I have made sure all of my clients are shielded against the upcoming Google algorithm update. The best thing to start with is to evaluate the web copy’s quality. Look for thin content, duplicate content, keyword stuffing, and lack of originality in your website’s content. 

Thin content is content that is short in length and low in quality. The article you publish shouldn’t be copied or spun from other sources. Besides, don’t stuff the content with keywords, as this will be penalized for black-hat SEO tactic. Lastly, don’t publish spun, paraphrased, or copied content, and focus on creating unique and insightful content that offers a fresh perspective.

Focus On Improving User Experience (UX) 

How your audience engages with your content matters a lot for most businesses. Engagement means your content is seen and resonates with your audience. I make sure my clients’ websites have nearly zero seconds of loading time. The user sees my website on a search engine and clicks on the link, and within a snap, the website just opens. 

I usually use Google PageSpeed Insights to check the website’s loading speed and look for areas for improvement. Slow loading times can lead to speedy bounce rates. One more thing that leads to increasing bounce rates is a website that doesn’t function from a mobile device. According to Statista, around 94.1% of people use the internet or visit websites through their smartphones. 

I do not just focus on making it workable for mobile I also make it responsive to all devices, including smartphones, desktops, and tablets. Therefore, to check if it is responsive, I use the Google Mobile-Friendly Test to find the root cause. Also, if you ignore it, the next algorithm update will find it and derank or unindex your website. 

Also, improve the navigation of your website. I won’t visit a website where the search menu is not clear, and I feel stranded. I want to visit a website and find the information I want and leave.

Fix Technical Issues Before The Next Google Algorithm Update

I would say technical issues can be the root cause of getting your website deranked in the algorithm update rollout. It is better to regularly check your website for broken links, crawl errors, indexing issues, sitemap & robots.txt issues, etc. Broken links can make your users frustrated and give you bounce rates; it can waste the crawl budget, signal crawlers that your website is not maintained regularly, etc. We don’t want that, right? 

For crawl errors, go to Google Search Console (GSC) and resolve any crawl errors preventing search engines from accessing and indexing your pages. Just like crawl errors, you will find indexing issues in GSC, so fix these ones, too. Also, don’t forget to upload an updated sitemap on GSC. Make sure the sitemap’s robots.txt file is correctly configured. 

Update The Content For Engagement 

Do you know interactive content will have a 52.6% higher engagement rate? Google also prioritizes content that is engaging for users. So, in order to know what your target audience looks for in content, you can check user behavior metrics. This will give you insights into how effectively your content is engaging. 

These metrics include bounce rate, time on site, pages per session, etc. With this data, you will know about the underperforming content and areas for improvement. 

Bonus Tips To Survive The Next Google Algorithm Update

To save yourself from unwanted indexing from Google, you have to focus on a few things. This will help you prevent from losing your website’s traffic. When you add content to your website, make sure it is of quality and value. 

Search engines and users look for quality and value in content. They don’t want to read shallow content that is just paraphrased old content. They look for in-depth content that comes from experience and expertise. 

Don’t forget E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) when you publish something on the internet. Besides, also note that AI tools can be good for brainstorming or researching, but don’t completely rely on them. 

The robot-generated content would only piss the search algorithms and, worst case scenario, get you unindexed or penalized by Google. Generated content will lack value, nuance, relevancy, creativity, and uniqueness. Hire some experienced content writers who can get genuine human expertise and insights for you. 

Above all, don’t forget to update your content regularly, as you don’t want to serve old content that lacks relevancy, accuracy, freshness, and creativity. 

Final Thoughts

This wasn’t just about it! You will need proactive website maintenance and ongoing SEO efforts. If you need more help to get your organic traffic back or to survive the next Google algorithm update, you can get help from the experts. Emerging Software and Emerging Digital Agency is your partner for any trouble emerging digitally.

Our SEO team has an experience of over 10 years and we are the best when it comes to digital marketing. So, why not take the deal?