The beginning of the year is marked by a common denominator that spans everything around us: volatility. Whether in the geostrategic, economic, financial, or sports spheres, current events seem to fluctuate uncontrollably in the prevailing winds of unexpected and ever-changing trends, much like those inflatable figures waving their arms to signal the presence of a nearby shopping area. Of course, this volatility has also arrived in the world of SEO.
The term “SEO volatility” refers to those situations in which Google search results undergo significant variability, where the order in which the SERPs appear can change within a short period. To elaborate further, it refers to rapid and unpredictable fluctuations in the rankings of web pages within the search results.
To put it simply, one day the article you had so well positioned for “history of the Internet” appears in 3rd position on Google, and the next day it is 10th—or it disappears from the top 20 results altogether.
Some of the leading SEO tools include features specifically designed to analyze this volatility. All of them are registering all-time highs in recent weeks, a rather uncommon situation that is undoubtedly causing headaches for more than one specialist.
They refer to it as “Googlemoto,” which strikes me as quite ingenious. The description at Wincher is less colorful, yet equally striking:
SEO volatility according to Wincher
The causes of SEO volatility may be diverse. Google itself has clarified on many occasions that the rankings we see in the search results are far from immutable, and that it makes small adjustments continuously to provide the best possible content in line with users’ search intent: “It is not necessary to wait for a ‘major’ core update to see the effects of improvements. We continuously update our search algorithms, including minor core updates. These updates are not announced because they are not very noticeable, but they represent another opportunity for your content to improve its ranking (if you have implemented improvements).”
However, generally speaking, major volatility tends to be associated with major updates to Google’s algorithm. This is what is commonly referred to as a “core update.”
If you look at the list of the history of these core updates, you will notice that in recent years there has always been one in March.
Just saying.
Therefore, it is quite likely that all this volatility is related to the work Google is undertaking in advance of its official communication regarding the March core update.
In these cases, it is not a matter of your website having done something wrong, but rather that Google is readjusting the way it measures the value across the entire web in order to better align with what users are seeking today. When rankings shift, it is not due to a penalty, but because the algorithm has found other websites that align more closely with its new criteria.
If you suspect that an update has negatively affected your website, remain calm and turn to Google Search Console or your preferred SEO tool to assess the true extent of the change. Also, check the Google Search Status Dashboard to confirm whether the update has completed its rollout.
In general, Google suggests not making any changes until at least one week has passed since the conclusion of the update. At that point, compare your website’s performance in the week following the end of the update with the week prior to its start. When analyzing your most important pages and keywords, pay close attention to the severity of the drop: if there are only mild adjustments (for example, from position 2 to 4), this is part of the SERPs’ natural fluctuations. The best approach is to avoid over-optimizing or altering what is already working well. In some cases, making too many changes may actually be more detrimental.
If the drop is critical (for instance, from position 4 to 29), this is a clear sign that your content no longer meets Google’s current quality standards. In such cases, it is necessary to conduct a thorough audit and reconsider your quality strategy.
In the coming days, we will see whether we are indeed facing one of these updates.
Image: Gemini
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