The latest trend to look out for in the field for Internet Marketers and Webmasters is Google Fred Update.
Google Fred… Another unexpected feather in the crown of Google Updates. The newest algorithm update by Google which has vanished a countless number of search engine rankings.
But this time Google took it to the next level, The next level of spam detection.
Through this post, we will be covering the possible reasons for the implication of penalty on your blog and will give you some actionable tips which have helped a healthy number of webmasters in restoring back their search engine profile.
It is believed that Google Fred was rolled out on 8th March 2017, which later on shook the whole Internet.
Table of Contents
What are the possibilities of your site getting affected by the Google Fred update?
We are listing some possible symptoms which can help you get an idea of later prognosis of your website.
- HUUUUGE Drop in Traffic – If in the month of March you have faced an immense amount of traffic drop on your site, and if you haven’t got a manual action email; this possibly is the effect of Fred algorithm update.
- Moves like Jagger in SERPS- Another possible sign is massive SERP shakeup. If you regularly see crests and troughs in the graph of the ranking of your website and even some sites have completely disappeared. Then you are on the verge or possibly already have been affected by the update.
Why only your site got HIT?
The actual reason behind sites getting penalised is still vague, But based on the accumulation of data these are the possible reasons for your site getting hit.
- Low-Value Content Sites – This is the most likely reason for your site getting hit. The low value here signifies sites having very less content, and that too targeted, Google targeted the targeted as it seems. Sites having 5-6 pages only that too having content around a single micro topic are the leading ones in the spree to get hit. Densely keyword stuffed articles also come in the category of low-value content.
- Earning Oriented Sites – Websites made for the only soul purpose of making money are also in the spree of getting hit. Product review based sites, APK download sites, etc. are some of the niches having most sites getting hit. Google has directly fired sites full of affiliate links, a site trying brand-jacking but adding no value to the web. Google just wants websites to add value to the internet. It wants people to be shown actual facts not what has high commission per sale.
- Sites With Ads All Around – Lately Google removed the restriction on publishers of adding a particular number of ad units on a web page. But not everybody took it in a good way. Some people just filled up their whole websites with ads all around. The proportion of area covered by ads was much more than the content.
- Last but not the Least LINKS – With every forthcoming update, webmasters always expect a certain part of the algorithmic code to hit sites with irregular link profiles. Irregular in anchor text profile, in link velocity, Dofollow – nofollow ratio, etc. have been hit. In this update also a section of sites got hit having links from the black-hat unusual ways. Mostly the ones who have been affected have been using SAPE links (Links found in footer & sidebar of sites which are often hacked) and Site-wide (Link present on every page of a website. Mostly they are placed in the footer or the sidebar) links, but the update also affects sites with unusual anchor text profile having links primarily for a single money keyword which they ought to rank.
I am also one of the sufferers of the Google Fred update, but as a silver lining, it has also made some of my sites rank higher in the SERPS.
In my case, my website which got hit was very narrow content wise. It was on the APK download niche. So yes, chances are Google considered my site as a low-value content. My site was earning oriented so plus one to Google for penalising my site. I didn’t have ads all around. I barely had 5-6 ad units on the front page of my website which was a static one and coming on links part. My website had a bittersweet link profile. It had backlinks from PBN’s, SAPE, low quality high OBL web pages, etc. All of which Google considers as spam. But it also did have high-quality contextual links. Site Age was good enough, more than a year. I am still in search for a precise reason for my site getting hit.
What are the remedies of Google Fred Update –
- Update Your Antique Content – Now is the high time to update your content and freshen up the web with something new on your niche. Decrease the number of outbound links. Add more images and videos to make your content more informative. Do a simple hack, note down the number of words in each article of first 10 positions and divide the number by 10. Supposedly you got 3200. Now content more than 3200 words should be your target.
- Disavow All The Bad Boys – You are on the top of the food chain. There is a reason behind that, which is Intellect. Use your intellect, deep study your link profile and disavow all which seems spammy. We know what spam link refers to, Don’t we? Adding some nofollow generic anchor links can also be beneficial. On the top of spammy backlink types lie SAPE followed by sitewide and PBN links according to notoriety by Google.
- Remove Every Earning Source For Some Time – Whether they are ads or affiliate links, remove them all for some time and track your website’s movement in the search engine. Also if you have files hosted on Google Drive and they are linked via your blog. Noindex them or remove them as soon as possible. It is one of the tweaks which did work for me.
- Try Tweaking Small Things – Make minor changes like changing theme, tweaking sidebar, etc. and keeping track of search engine progress sideways.
- Diversify Link Profile – If spam links are not your case, anchor text toxicity can be. Diversify your back link profile with some fresh back link with naked links, generic terms such as name as anchors.
These are some of the methodologies which you can use to tackle the google’s recent algorithm update. Try these and keep tracking results also if you think we have missed something, comment in the comment section below and let us know.
This is just an algorithm update! There is nothing in this world which can’t be fixed. All you need to do is Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
Don’t forget to like and share and do subscribe to our newsletter for our more awesome articles like these!
Keep visiting for more such awesome posts, internet tips, lifestyle tips, and remember we cover,
“Everything under the Sun!”
Follow Inspire2rise on Twitter. | Follow Inspire2rise on Facebook. | Follow Inspire2rise on YouTube.
