Google recently rolled out two changes that affected website rankings: the August 2024 core update and a fix for a separate ranking problem. These happened around the same time, making it tricky for SEO experts to figure out which change caused what effect on their sites’ search rankings.

John Mueller, Senior Search Analyst at Google, commented on LinkedIn to help clarify things.

The conversation started when Rüdiger Dalchow asked how to tell apart the effects of the core update from those of the ranking issue fix since they happened so close together.

Mueller: Wait Before Analyzing Changes

Mueller’s main advice was to be patient.

He suggests not trying to separate the effects of the ranking fix from those of the core update while everything is still settling.

He pointed out that it’s normal to see rankings fluctuate during this time.

He stated:

“You’d really need to wait until the core update finishes rolling out to make any call about its effect. That’s not to say you should wait with working on your website, it’s just if you want to compare before vs after, waiting for it to be finished is important. From looking at social posts from SEOs tracking these things, there are often fluctuations during the rollout, I don’t think it’s worth trying to separate out the effects from the ranking issue.”

Mueller: Don’t Wait To Improve Your Website

Mueller said not to put off improving your website, but he stressed that it’s important to let the core update finish before jumping to conclusions about how it affected your site.

This is consistent with Google’s usual advice about core updates: wait until they’re fully rolled out before you examine what changed.

In the same conversation, Hans Petter Blindheim suggested adding a special notice in Google Search Console during core updates or when issues occur.

Mueller responded carefully, saying:

“Most websites don’t see big changes, so I’m hesitant to make it seem like an even bigger deal for them.”

He mentioned that Chrome add-ons are available for those who want to monitor these events more closely.

Why This Matters

This conversation shows how complicated Google’s search updates can be and how challenging it is to pinpoint exactly what caused changes in rankings.

While the August 2024 core update is rolling out, Mueller advises focusing on the big picture of site quality instead of figuring out which specific change caused what.

More Information

For those wanting to learn more, Google has recently updated its advice on core updates. This new guide gives more detailed tips for websites affected by these changes.

It includes a step-by-step walkthrough on using Search Console to check if your traffic has dropped and stresses making user-focused improvements to your content.

As always, we’ll monitor this core update closely over the next few weeks. Once it’s fully rolled out, we should have a clearer idea of how it’s affected websites.

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