“Google Core Update December 2020”: This is probably one of the most popular search phrases of SEOs in the December days of 2020. Because: Google has confirmed a major update for the search engine algorithm. These are the central information, winners and losers.
Google Core Update December 2020 officially confirmed
Shortly before Christmas, Google once again provides a lot of work for page operators and search engine optimizers. Because: Google officially confirmed on December 3, 2020, that a new core update for the search engine algorithm is being played out since then.
According to Google, it can take up to two weeks until the Google Core Update December 2020 is rolled out in all data centers. This means that by December 20, 2020 at the latest, all pages should be re-indexed and re-rated.
Google Core Update December 2020: How do I know if I am affected?
If your site is particularly affected by the current changes – both positive and negative – you will notice a greater increase or decrease in your page views by the end of December 2020 at the latest.
After all, Google only redistributes visibility within its own search engine during a core update. This means: there are winners and losers – and that in every industry. While, according to the experts at Sistrix, Xing, for example, loses heavily, LinkedIn wins.
Just as important: Google punishes with its Core Updates much less often complete domains. Instead, individual pages in the directory of a website are affected. Here, too, Sistrix shows that the profile visibility of companies at Xing has decreased significantly, while private profiles have increased.
So whether you are affected by the Google Core Update December 2020, you will probably notice in the course of the next two weeks. You can also analyze whether your entire site or just individual areas have lost importance and then make improvements.
Google Core Update December 2020: The winners and losers
Among the biggest losers of the Core Update are dictionaries and encyclopedias. This was to be expected, however, since Google had already adapted its own guidelines in October 2020 and had explicitly addressed those areas.
Accordingly, Dict.cc, Wiktionary.org, Linguee.com, the largest representatives are also heavily affected. In concrete terms, Google complains that in many cases these sites no longer fulfill the user’s search intention and therefore lose visibility.
Newspapers, journals and magazines are also affected. There are no concrete details about this. However, Johannes Beus of Sistrix suspects that publishers who wanted to achieve reach with rankings far away from their own thematic focus are particularly affected.
Among the portals affected are Finanznachrichten.de, the Weser Kurier, BZ Berlin, the Morgenpost, Boerse-online.de, the Kölner Stadtanzeiger and the Sächsische.
The winners include an astonishingly large number of sites with a medical reference. Seven health-related pages alone are among the top ten winners. These include, for example, Focus, Eurapon, Deximed.de and Aponeo.
With an increase of almost 200 percent, Foursquare is the absolute winner of the Google Core Update December 2020.
Conclusion
Google no longer wants to punish individual pages or content with its Core Updates. Rather, it is about establishing general criteria for the quality of pages and content and then rewarding good pages and content with greater visibility.
Since August 1, 2019, Google has also provided a corresponding document for all site operators. In it, Google explains the most important issues and thus provides tips and pointers for improvements.
If your site is affected by the December 2020 core update, you may find an answer in the answers to the questions to be rewarded with more visibility in the next update.
