Have you noticed a recent drop in your website rankings during the holiday season? It seems that Google had some unexpected surprises for us. The latest Google algorithm updates have primarily affected blogs and affiliate sites, causing noticeable shifts in search rankings. While there hasn’t been an official announcement, many in the SEO community have observed significant changes in the search engine results page (SERP). In this blog, I’ll highlight the key updates and offer tips to adjust your website strategy accordingly.
Read more: On-Page SEO Tips for Better Search Results
1. The Maccabees Update
In December, Google made an unofficial update to its search algorithm, now referred to as the Maccabees Update. Many sites experienced up to a 30% drop in traffic during this period, particularly between December 12-14. The name "Maccabees" was coined by Barry Schwartz of SERoundtable, in recognition of Hanukkah, and the name quickly caught on in the SEO community.
While this wasn’t a major algorithm update, it significantly impacted specific types of sites, especially those relying heavily on SEO for traffic. Affiliate sites were hit the hardest, while eCommerce sites were largely unaffected.
One major trend that emerged is that websites with multiple pages targeting similar keyword variations were most affected. For example, a travel site using pages with keywords like "trip to Colorado," "cheapest trip to Colorado," and "package trip to Colorado" saw those pages drop in the rankings. If your site follows a similar strategy, it’s time to shift to creating unique, valuable content for each page. Websites with relevant, well-structured content didn’t suffer as much from this update.
2. Longer Meta Descriptions and Snippets
This may not be new news for some, but Google officially increased the length of meta descriptions and featured snippets. Traditionally, meta descriptions were kept between 160-180 characters, but starting in November, they’ve grown to around 250-280 characters and sometimes even up to 300 characters.
This update offers both opportunities and risks for your SEO strategy. With longer descriptions, websites that rank lower on the SERP might see even less traffic, as the top-ranking pages will dominate more search results real estate and likely see higher click-through rates (CTR).
The good news? Many websites still haven’t updated their meta descriptions to take advantage of this change. Early adopters can improve their CTR by expanding their descriptions to take up more space on the search results page. If you haven’t updated your meta descriptions yet, now is the time.
3. Knowledge Graph Eating Up Featured Snippets:
According to the MOZ report from the analysis of 10,000 keywords, the Featured According to a MOZ report analyzing 10,000 keywords, the use of featured snippets has increased by more than 16% over the past two years. However, in late October, many SEO experts like Brian Patterson and Chris Long noticed a sudden drop in featured snippets, with about a 10% decrease in just four days.
What happened? Google’s Knowledge Graph began replacing many featured snippets. In particular, high-traffic keywords that once had featured snippets were now displaying Knowledge Graph entries, often pulling data from Wikipedia.
Keywords like "HDMI cables," "Halloween costume," "credit score," and "ovulation" all saw changes, with Knowledge Graph entries taking over. Even some brand keywords like "Ray-Ban" were affected. This shift doesn’t seem to follow a specific pattern, but it’s clear that Google is pushing its Knowledge Graph more prominently in search results.
While there isn’t much that can be done to prevent this, understanding this shift can explain any drops in traffic for high-volume keywords on your site.
Read more: 4 Types of Content to Diversify Your Blog
Conclusion
If you’ve noticed changes in your website’s rankings or traffic recently, these Google algorithm updates could be the reason. From the Maccabees Update to longer meta descriptions and the Knowledge Graph replacing snippets, it’s clear that staying on top of Google’s updates is essential to maintaining your search rankings. If you’ve seen a traffic dip and believe these updates could be the cause, consider adjusting your SEO strategy accordingly.
Have you noticed any other recent changes in your website’s traffic? Let me know in the comments below!
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