• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, January 13, 2020

Google announced plans to roll out a core update on Monday.

“Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year,” Google wrote in a tweet. “It is called the January 2020 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before.”

It makes sense that when Google updates it core search algorithm, websites can rank better or worse in the search results. When site owners notice a change, they know that Google also provides a link to a post dating back to August 2019 in which the company explains the significance to “broad core updates.” This typically produces widely noticeable effects where some sites may note drops or gains during them.

Knowing that Google has or will update its core algorithm helps to identify why marketers might see changes in rankings for some content in search results. 

Marketers monitoring sites that experience drops typically automatically look for a fix. The post cautions about trying to fix the “wrong things” because there “might not be anything to fix.”

Marketers should focus on the content if a drop in ranking occurs, per Google, as well as revisit advice offered in the past about quality content such as whether the content provides original information, reporting, research or analysis, provides a substantial, complete or comprehensive description of the topic, and draws on other sources, or provides additional value, Marketers can find a list of these questions here.