SEO Services

Algorithm Update Recovery

Google's algorithm updates can make or break any business, as can algorithm updates from any search engine. Google updates also happen frequently so websites can get affected at any time.

If you've been impacted by a recent algorithm update, then you'll need the services of an experienced organic traffic specialist to help you plan your website's recovery.

Send us a message today to find out exactly how.

Get more sales. Today.

What Is An Algorithm Update?

An algorithm update generally refers to updates Google periodically makes to it's search algorithm. Google's algorithm is a complex system that decides the rankings for organic search results, and a significant change to that algorithm can be the difference between revenue-driving traffic to your website, and losing out.

Why Does Google's Algorithm Get Updated?

Each algorithm update generally focuses on a specific element, and the aim is to encourage websites to behave a certain way. Google may decide to decrease the weighting of backlinks in response to websites heavily focusing on this one metric, so SEOs need to either find a new avenue to improve rankings, or work harder to earn backlinks (it's never this simple though, Google can affect the weighting of different kinds of websites, increasing the weighting in some and decreasing the weighting in others, so its important to know not all backlinks are equal). The rise of generative AI also saw the internet fill with AI-generated content, so a Google update was rolled out to attempt to filter out low-effort content.

Generally the aim is for the search results to serve content that is useful to searchers (not traffic that is profitable to website owners), so businesses that aim to serve users first will find traffic improve during updates, or less dramatically, will find no change (which is itself a win sometimes).

Has There Been An Algorithm Update Recently?

Between 11 - 29 December 2025, Google rolled out the December 2025 Core Update - so if you saw traffic fluctuating in December 2025 it'll be due to this core update. Prior to this, the most recent Google update was the August 26th Spam Update, launched on August 26th and rolled out until 22nd September 2025. Website owners would therefore have seen increases or decreases in web traffic over that period. By the end of the update, ranking would have stabilised and for anyone negatively affected by the update, the recovery process would begin - first by analysing why Google saw your content as 'spammy'.

Will The Next Google Update Affect Me?

Rankings will typically affect everyone - websites may have their rankings downgraded for not following the best-practises the update was looking for, while others will see their rankings improves as they move into those positions lost. In a competitive niche where the top rankings are held by players with strong SEO, there may be little shift.

Will Google Updates Affect My Bing Rankings?

Bing search results utilise a different ranking algorithm to Google, so impacts on Google's search rankings won't translate over to Bing. Bing search will have it's own ranking updates, but with about 5% of the organic search market it is much less spoken about. Bing also does not publicly announce its updates in the same way that Google does, and where it does update its algorithm, this is done in small frequent amounts, rather than broad updates like Google.

Why Am I Being Punished By This Google Update?

Unless you've had a notification about a manual action, then recent Google updates may have hurt your rankings, and as a result you may have lost out on sales. However, it's important to note it's not a punishment. It simply means Google has changed the requirements for what #1 requires, and while you may have previously fully met those requirements, you now probably mostly still meet them. It's not a punishment, but the website that most meets those requirements will have been rewarded.

By working with a SEO specialist that understands exactly what Google is looking for, then recovery and even exceeding past performances is possible (but of course we'd say that). If you're in such a position, here are some places to start the recovery on your own:

When did traffic dip?

Use your analytics to assess when you saw the drop in traffic, in order to assign it to a specific Google update. From there, research that update to learn what Google was targeting.

What did I do?

There is no room for ego in SEO. If you maintain a website, you know what content you've been publishing, you know how your website performs and you know how you acquire backlinks. If you were utilising a strategy that was manipulating the search engines, then enjoy that the strategy worked, but now you need to show Google that you'll be following their best-practices. If you were running your website in good faith, then you'll need to disengage from your thoughts on the quality of your website and take steps to rebuild.

What next?

The real work begins once you've taken that step back to analyse and reflect, and when you understand what update was looking for. An audit is the first step - going through your site page-by-page to assess performance and quality. Delete pages that are not ranking, and merge the content into stronger pages. Some pages may need a full re-write. Some may be very out-of-date, some may be thin. Once you've objectively assessed your entire site, then all there is to do is those re-writes, those page deletions, that new URL architecture.

How Do I Recover From Past Google Search Updates?

The strategy to recovery really depends on that particular update. We'll summarise the last year's worth of Google updates with a suggestion on how to plan your recovery.

December 2025 core update (started: 11 Dec 2025)

A core update, and a broad recalibration of ranking variables, generally focuses on specific sectors. Focus on on-page quality and user experience. Completed on 29 December 2025.

August 2025 spam update (started: 26 Aug 2025)

A spam update - so begin by looking at your on-page content quality.

June 2025 core update (started: 30 Jun 2025)

A core update, and a broad recalibration of ranking variables, generally focuses on specific sectors. Focus on on-page quality and user experience.

March 2025 core update (started: 13 Mar 2025)

A core update aimed at thin AI generated content. A content quality audit followed by re-writes is the strategy to recovery here.

December 2024 spam update (started: 19 Dec 2024)

A spam update that focused on low quality, unoriginal AI-generated content. A content quality audit followed by re-writes is the strategy to recovery here.

December 2024 core update (started: 12 Dec 2024)

A core update rolled out at the same time as the spam update.

November 2024 core update (started: 11 Nov 2024)

A broad update with impacts on various niches, aimed at rewarding high-quality, user-focused engines.

As you can tell, Google is overwhelmingly focused on ensuring sites serve users in an original manner. If you aim to always add to the discourse, rather than add to the echo chamber, then you shouldn't see any Google update drama.

My Lead Gen Site Has Been Hurt By A Recent Algorithm Update - What Can I Do?

Google’s algorithm updates tend to focus on specific elements, and if your lead gen website has lost rankings, traffic and revenue from an update you need to familiarise yourself with what the update was looking for. How has Google’s understanding changed? You need to be objective with your website and ask yourself what you were doing that doesn’t align with that understanding.

This doesn’t mean your strategy was incorrect. An SEO strategy works until it doesn’t, that's the nature of the channel. Frequently the bar that content must meet simply gets raised. Yes, this puts pressure on businesses owners to produce content at a higher and higher standard and not everyone has the resources, however if the industry experts are in close communication with the SEO team, then the knowledge from the sales experts can be translated into converting website copy by the SEO/content expert.

Look at the winners, and the other losers. Try to understand what they have in common. Look at the resources you have at your disposal and try to find how you can improve on what other competitors are doing. No update is as simple as ‘the sites with the most backlinks got the benefit, so I must acquire 10,000 backlinks’. And very often clear, concise content can outrank a huge domain.

In past experience, recovery from an update required removal of almost every blog post, as after an audit it was apparent that content that had been ranking top 3 for niche target keywords had lost many rankings, due to the content not having been updated in 5 years. There was no resource to re-write dozens of blog posts, but there was recovery in the core business-driving keywords when the SEO team focused on having in-depth content on the core pages, and removing outdated pages now that Google’s own understanding had improved and the content that was ranking despite being out of date finally lost its rankings. It’s not always the case that Google is out to get an SEO.

In the case of this website, informational content can be re-written over time and the removed keywords can be targeted again if the page can be written to a sufficiently high standard.

My Side Hustle Website Has Been Affected By A Recent Google Search Update - What Can I Do?

Your side hustle website is likely an important extra source of income that gives you a level of independence from your primary income source. Being negatively affected by a Google update will no doubt set you back financially. Unfortunately, regardless of what kind of website your run, recovering from a Google search update isn't a simple task. It takes objectivity and being able to separate yourself from your site.

The advice is the same: analyse where you have been impacted most, is it sitewide, or is it a specific section or topic? Go through each of the affected pages with an objective, fine-toothed comb, asking yourself the following:

Is the page is serving its purpose well?
Is the content up-to-date?
Is the content asking all the correct questions?
Is the content concise, clear and focus, or else, is it truly what it says it is about?
Is there any reason anybody in the world would misunderstand what it is you are trying to say.
Do any pages rank for the same queries as another page on your site?

Using these questions as a guide, you'll probably uncover a host of improvements to make to your most affected pages. Implement the changes page-by-page and you should see traffic return over time. Where multiple pages rank for the same queries, consider consolidating these pages into one single strong page.

This is free advice and the same process we implement on any website we work on to provide algorithm update recovery. If you have questions on how to recover traffic on your own, fill in the form and beginning with 'Question', we'll provide you with free advice on what more you can do. We'll be happy to take on your project if you still don't find success in your recovery. Alternatively, North West SEO is an organic traffic specialist with years of experience in assisting businesses recover from Google updates and we'd be happy to chat with you to form an action plan.