Following the latest Google algorithm updates, several niches of various sectors have been affected. The general feedback is a negative one; however, some have been winners after all. And, about the winners, there are spammers included in the list as well. 

According to forensic SEO experts all around the world, the impact of the latest Goggle updates has been profound and has sent shockwaves through various industries. On the one hand, the mental health knowledge base, travel booking, and e-commerce sites have seen improvement in their rankings; the opposite is true for the technology news sites and the skincare sites.

The following post is a summary of a few industries and how they have been affected following the latest algorithm updates.

The first-time casualties

The one interesting aspect of the November 2019 algorithm update is that many publishers have been affected negatively for the first time. Instances are floating around Twitter and other social networks for this particular iteration of the update. Google rolls out algorithm updates periodically. But, often, publishers pass under the radar and aren’t affected at all. But the scenario seems to have changed this time around.

Effect on the blogging community

Before we get into the detail about the impact of the update on the blogging community, let us make one thing clear. Google, or any search engine for that matter, doesn’t target any specific niche. However, according to the blogger community, both the recipe and the travel the organic traffic went down, and the sites reported losses.

According to reputed sources, there was around a 30% drop in the organic traffic across various recipe blogger platforms irrespective of the authority or the popularity of the page. However, according to our experts, it will be beneficial for bloggers to wait out this rolling-out phase and avoid taking any drastic action. Preliminary investigations report that the sites that indicate a decrease in traffic had a keyword-heavy SEO strategy.

Observations from Facebook-Hat

Facebook members report a loss in traffic as well. The same picture persists here as well as it seems to be a case of the publishers who previously weren’t affected with the algorithm updates seemingly suffering the pain this time around. Use to content analysis software and tools to find a backdoor to the words that could get ranked for queries seems to be the main culprit in this case. There are reports where the traffic has gone down without any significant changes in keyword positions, as well. However, keep in mind that there are various tools like the Top Stories, carousels, and Featured Snippets, all under the helpful Google features that also tend to push the organic traffic numbers down. So, according to all the major social media outlets and reports, there seems to be a higher number of casualties compared to the winners.

Observations from Gray-Hat

This is where the winners are following the latest algorithm updates. Over at the Gray-hat club, users have observed a steady upward spike following the update. Although focused on the PBN or the Private Blog Network links, improvement in sales, in some cases as high as 70%. The increase in organic traffic has provided considerable gains to users. So it is safe to say that the response is more than favourable for the Gray-hat community since the November 2019 algorithm update.

Reaction from the Black-Hat

Black Hat world forums reported a “nose-dive” for traffic numbers following the latest variation of the algorithm update. Losses have run as high as 40%, and this seems to be consistent across the black-hat community. Sporadic instances of improvements were reported, but according to our experts, these too will report losses as time wears on.

However, according to certain No-Hat SEO experts, Google is unable to understand the difference and distinguish between a spam site and a legitimate site. It is the main reason due to which the Gray-Hat and the Black-Hat SEO strategies have seen improvement following the latest Google update. An increase of sneaky redirects into .cf, .tk, .ga, and .gg domains is the current scenario since the update.

The Fishing-Hat approach

Here is a great way to approach the SEO strategies for your domain since the Google updates. Keep in mind that the search engine follows the user and not the other way around. So, there is a sense in trying to understand what the update is all about. Google is trying to do with the latest iteration exactly. Once you can grasp the detail, structuring and devising the correct SEO strategy should become smooth.

Keep in mind that there are many myths associated with Google updates and SEO strategies. The algorithm is never as simple as targeting and affecting affiliate sites. On the contrary, when the ranked sites evolved, the affiliate sites stopped working. The search engine tries to understand the search query and decide the relevancy of the results and hits to rank domains.

As long as we are here, let us bust a few more myths about what entails white labeling.

• The author’s page is a myth, and it doesn’t need to be built or updated
• There is no need to displace expert level accreditation at the site
• There is no E-A-T ranking factor at Google, so for all the SEO experts devising E-A-T for the domain, it is not going to have any effect at the final rankings at the SERPs.

Technical experts from the search engine giants themselves busted these myths, and according to them, all that is required is a smart set of strategies to maintain the authority, informational standard, and relevancy as far as the consumer is concerned. Keep in mind that the Search Quality Raters Guidelines were all about how to rate a website and not on how to get a better ranking. So, avoid myths and strive for quality.

The take-home point following the latest algorithm update is that like always, Google is not targeting any specific site or niche or industry. All the previous updates were about understanding user end queries better, the link signals, and the relevancy of the website to rank them accordingly at the SERPs. There is no reason to believe that it won’t be the same this time around as well.