Website Ranking Down – What is Google Search Ranking Fluctuations 2021
Seeing fluctuations in your Google search ranking recently? When it comes to rankings on Google’s SERP, slight fluctuations every now and then are completely normal. Sometimes even if they are completely out of the blue. Google, as a brand, keeps doing something new every single day to improve the overall experience of its users. And so, seeing some ups and downs in your rankings shouldn’t be something really to be worried about.
However, as a business, you should still have an idea of why it’s happening.
Over the first half of the year 2021, Google has rolled out many updates to its algorithm. And they certainly have had an impact on SERP’s rankings.
If you too are seeing fluctuations in your rankings, as a website owner, here are a few whys that you should know of.
Google Updates
We’ve already talked about the fact that Google has come up with various updates over the first half of the year 2021. Here are a few of the major ones:
- Passage Indexing (Feb 2021): Google rolled out this particular update for US/English search queries. Though it wasn’t clear how it impacted the SERP rankings, Google stated that it will impact 7% of search queries.
- Product Review Update (April 2021): Under this update, Google announced a reward for detailed and in-depth reviews over thin and sketchy reviews. While it seems simple at first instance, the effects are a bit complex, affecting the overall ranking of the website on SERP.
- Core Update (June, July 2021): Google announced to roll out the core update in two parts. The first part was rolled out on 2nd June 2021 and the second one on July 1st. After this update, various businesses saw some significant fluctuations in their rankings.
- Spam Updates (June 2021): Google made this update in order to prevent spammy websites from ending up on their SERP. Due to this, while some websites showed significant fluctuations, there were no signs of overall rankings volatility.
- Page Experience Update (June 2021): The search engine started rolling this update (which includes core web vitals) out on June 5th, 2021. And it will continue rolling out all through August. This particular update is making some significant impacts on the rankings of almost all businesses.
There have been many other unconfirmed updates too by Google over the past few months. And while we cannot be sure of how exactly each of these affects the rankings, we certainly know that they do. And thus, as a website owner, you must study them in detail.
Other Factors
In addition to Google algorithm updates, there are other factors too that can cause search ranking fluctuations. These include:
Technical Issues
Various technical issues might hider the crawling and indexing of the content on your website by Google bots. Here, you need to make sure it’s easy for them by ensuring there are no major blockers on your website.
Competition
Actions by your competitors can also affect your rankings. A competitor is always trying to get above you and trying their best to do so. If they find a successful way, they can drop you down on the SERP.
Should You be Worried?
If the fluctuations that you are noticing are not major, there’s no need to be alarmed. However, if you are seeing a drop in the overall traffic, you might need to reconsider what you have been doing. Find out the real reason for the drop and work it out asap to get back into the game.
Not a digital expert? There’s no need to be worried. Give Firestartup a call and let us help you get back on that SERP.