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When Google announces a broad core algorithm update, many SEO professionals find themselves asking what exactly changed (besides their rankings).

Googles acknowledgment of core updates is always vague and doesnt provide much detail other than to say the update occurred.

The SEO community is typically notified about core updates via the same standard tweets from Googles Search Liaison.

Theres one announcement from Google when the update begins rolling out, and one on its conclusion, with few additional details in between (if any).

This invariably leaves SEO professionals and site owners asking many questions with respect to how their rankings were impacted by the core update.

To gain insight into what may have caused a sites rankings to go up, down, or stay the same, it helps to understand what a broad core update is and how it differs from other types of algorithm updates.

After reading this article youll have a better idea of what a core update is designed to do, and how to recover from one if your rankings were impacted.

First, let me get the obligatory Google makes hundreds of algorithm changes per year, often more than one per day boilerplate out of the way.

Many of the named updates we hear about (Penguin, Panda, Pigeon, Fred, etc.) are implemented to address specific faults or issues in Googles algorithms.

In the case of Penguin, it was link spam; in the case of Pigeon, it was local SEO spam.

They all had a specific purpose.

In these cases, Google (sometimes reluctantly) informed us what they were trying to accomplish or prevent with the algorithm update, and we were able to go back and remedy our sites.

A core update is different.

The way I understand it, a core update is a tweak or change to the main search algorithm itself.

You know, the one that has between 200 and 500 ranking factors and signals (depending on which SEO blog youre reading today).

What a core update means to me is that Google slightly tweaked the importance, order, weights, or values of these signals.

Because of that, they cant come right out and tell us what changed without revealing the secret sauce.

The simplest way to visualize this would be to imagine 200 factors listed in order of importance.

Now imagine Google changing the order of 42 of those 200 factors.

Rankings would change, but it would be a combination of many things, not due to one specific factor or cause.

Obviously, it isnt that simple, but thats a good way to think about a core update.

Heres a purely made up, slightly more complicated example of what Google wouldnt tell us:

In this core update, we increased the value of keywords in H1 tags by 2%, increased the value of HTTPS by 18%, decreased the value of keyword in title tag by 9%, changed the D value in our PageRank calculation from .85 to .70, and started using a TF-iDUF retrieval method for logged in users instead of the traditional TF-PDF method.

(I swear these are real things. I just have no idea if theyre real things used by Google.)

For starters, many SEO pros wouldnt understand it.

Basically, it means Google may have changed the way they calculate term importance on a page, or the weighing of links in PageRank, or both, or a whole bunch of other factors that they cant talk about (without giving away the algorithm).

Put simply: Google changed the weight and importance of many ranking factors.

Thats the simple explanation.

At its most complex form, Google ran a new training set through their machine learning ranking model and quality raters picked this new set of results as more relevant than the previous set, and the engineers have no idea what weights changed or how they changed because thats just how machine learning works.

(We all know Google uses quality raters to rate search results. These ratings are how they choose one algorithm change over another not how they rate your site. Whether they feed this into machine learning is anybodys guess. But its one possibility.)

Its likely some random combination of weighting delivered more relevant results for the quality raters, so they tested it more, the test results confirmed it, and they pushed it live.

Unlike a major named update that targeted specific things, a core update may tweak the values of everything.

Because websites are weighted against other websites relevant to your query (engineers call this a corpus) the reason your site dropped could be entirely different than the reason somebody elses increased or decreased in rankings.

To put it simply, Google isnt telling you how to recover because its likely a different answer for every website and query.

It all depends on what everybody else trying to rank for your query is doing.

Does every one of them but you have their keyword in the H1 tag? If so then that could be a contributing factor.

Do you all do that already? Then that probably carries less weight for that corpus of results.

Its very likely that this algorithm update didnt penalize you for something at all. It most likely just rewarded another site more for something else.

Maybe you were killing it with internal anchor text and they were doing a great job of formatting content to match user intent and Google shifted the weights so that content formatting was slightly higher and internal anchor text was slightly lower.

(Again, hypothetical examples here.)

In reality, it was probably several minor tweaks that, when combined, tipped the scales slightly in favor of one site or another (think of our reordered list here).

Finding that something else that is helping your competitors isnt easy but its what keeps SEO professionals in the business.

Rankings are down after a core update now what?

Your next step is to gather intel on the pages that are ranking where your site used to be.

Conduct a SERP analysis to find positive correlations between pages that are ranking higher for queries where your site is now lower.

Try not to overanalyze the technical details, such as how fast each page loads or what their core web vitals scores are.

Pay attention to the content itself. As you go through it, ask yourself questions like:

Google aims to serve content that provides the best and most complete answers to searchers queries. Relevance is the one ranking factor that will always win out over all others.

Take an honest look at your content to see if its as relevant today as it was prior to the core algorithm update.

From there youll have an idea of what needs improvement.

The best advice for conquering core updates?

Keep focusing on:

Finally, dont stop improving your site once you reach Position 1, because the site in Position 2 isnt going to stop.

Yeah, I know, its not the answer anybody wants and it sounds like Google propaganda. I swear its not.

Its just the reality of what a core update is.

Nobody said SEO was easy.

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Google Broad Core Algorithm Updates: Everything You Need To Know - Search Engine Journal

Participants will have access to various supports including workshops, e-learning, and access to digital advisers

L-R Lisa Corcoran, Vodafone; Colin Creagh, Klarna Ireland; Emma Jones, Enterprise Nation and Peter Lougheed, Microsoft Ireland

A new digital training programme offering virtual training and supports to small businesses across Ireland has launched. Go and Grow Online, aims to help 20,000 small businesses to accelerate their digital, sales, CRM, and financial skills by offering on average more than 5,000 worth of supports.

Go and Grow Online is supported by Vodafone, Microsoft, and Klarna.Irish businesses who take part will have access to the platform and the supports provided including workshops, e-learning, and access to digital advisers.

The programme is devised in response to demand from small business owners many of whom founded their companies in response to the pandemic, with stats showing a 42% increase in new company registrations in the first half of 2021 alone who are looking for training on how to ensure their businesses succeed online.

When restrictions allow, there will also be in-person digital drop-in sessions, hosted in selected locations around the country, with content delivered by a network of digital trainers, all of whom are experts in topics ranging from SEO to online selling.

We are witnessing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for small businesses, said Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation. The events of the last two years have fundamentally altered the way we live and created markets that simply didnt exist beforehand. You need look no further than the transition from offline to online selling. The acceleration of digital technology and social media has levelled the playing field, providing virtual marketing platforms and marketplaces for every business to connect directly with their audience wherever in the world they may be. We want to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs in Ireland, giving them the tools they need to build their digital skills and grow their companies throughout 2022.

Sinead Bryan, managing director of Vodafone Business Ireland, said: SMEs account for a large majority of businesses in our economy, playing a pivotal role in innovation, job creation and economic development.Were therefore very excited to work with Enterprise Nation to deliver a best-in-class skills training programme to support businesses across all sectors and helping them maximise their digital potential. In doing so, businesses can unlock new areas for growth and customer interaction, empower employees and create operational facilities. This initiative will play an important role in future-proofing our SME sector and addressing skills gaps to make sure every business has the best chance of success.

Peter Lougheed, SME Lead, Microsoft Ireland said: The Go and Grow Online initiative is a unique opportunity for Irelands small businesses to continue the journey of digital transformation that has accelerated across all sectors in the last two years. The programme reflects Microsoft Irelands commitment to supporting the digital and online ambitions of SMEs to create efficiencies, grow and expand and remain competitive. We are excited to work with organisations around the country to help employees work productively wherever they are, adapt business processes with automation and business insights, provide advice on new ways to engage with customers and to embrace security as more businesses move to the cloud.

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Our editorial mix includes channel news, trend analysis, Deals Done, regular Channel Chat interviews and strategic product focuses. This is a vital medium through which the technology channel can network and identify new business opportunities.

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Training programme aims to get thousands of SMEs online - TechCentral.ie

A bill in the state senate would establish a $50,000 fine for an Iowa city and law enforcement agency where an officer enforces federal gun regulations that are stricter than the states.

The bill is part of a campaign that has prompted county supervisors to designate 33 Iowa counties as Second Amendment Sanctuaries where federal gun laws wouldnt be enforced by local officials if the Biden Administration or congress were to enact tougher regulations. Senator Zach Nunn of Bondurant, a Republican congressional candidate in Iowas third district, is the sponsor of the so-called Second Amendment Preservation Act.

We want to protect our law enforcement officers on the front line who are serving the community, but not deputize them as agents of a department or agency to go in and infringe upon an Iowans Second Amendment constitutional rights, Nunn said yesterday during a subcommittee hearing on the bill.

Nunn indicated the legislation needs some changes before its considered by a full Senate committee. Sydney Gangestad, a lobbyist for Everytown for Gun Safety a national group that supports gun control measures, said the bill may penalize local police and sheriffs departments that work with federal authorities on gun-related investigations. We believe this would have a chilling effect and that is a grave concern to us, Gangestad said.

A lobbyist for the Iowa County Attorneys Association said the proposal could make it difficult for state and local agencies to enforce federal laws that forbid convicted domestic abusers from having guns.

A similar bill has been passed in Missouri and nearly 60 Missouri police chiefs filed a lawsuit last week, seeking changes to clarify what is and isnt permitted. One chief said Missouris law appears in certain circumstances to prevent police from checking serial numbers to see if a gun is stolen.

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Second Amendment Preservation Act introduced in Iowa Senate - Radio Iowa

Marsha Keene-Frye grew up around guns, going hunting with her family from a young age near her home in Mississippi County.

To this day, she still regularly carries a firearm and considers herself a supporter of the Second Amendment, just like most of her neighbors in southeastern Missouri.

But for 27 years, Keene-Frye has worked at Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center, which offers domestic violence services in Mississippi County. Shes seen how guns have aided perpetrators in terrorizing and even killing their spouses and children.

We have had people who have physically been beaten to death, said Keene-Frye, who is now the centers CEO, but that is rarer than when someone uses a firearm. Theres typically a deadly outcome.

Missouri ranked second in the nation, behind Alaska, in the number of women killed by men, according to a national study that analyses 2018 homicide data. Among the Missouri women who were murdered by their intimate partners, 80 percent were killed with guns.

Keene-Frye can attest to the real nature of these statistics on the ground, and shes adamant that state legislators must pass a law that would take guns out of the hands of convicted domestic-violence perpetrators mirroring federal law.

Three legislators Democratic Sens. Lauren Arthur and John Rizzo and Republican state Rep. Ron Hicks have filed bills that would answer Keene-Fryes call to amend the law.

Advocates like Keene-Frye, and even law enforcementofficials, say these proposals are even more crucial now, following the passage of the Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA) last May.

The act, which went into effect in August, made it illegal for law enforcement officers in Missouri to enforce certain federal gun laws among them is the federal law that prevents convicted domestic violence abusers from having guns.

Hicks, R-Defiance, voted for the Second Amendment Preservation Act, and he still supports it. But he also believes that it left the states most vulnerable residents unprotected, and legislators have a responsibility to fix it.

This seems like a very simple piece of legislation to help protect all men and women and children in the state of Missouri, Hicks said, and at the same time still protect our Second Amendment rights.

While the legislation has bipartisan support, both Hicks and Arthur agree it still faces a hefty challenge this session. Its an election year, they said, and Republican candidates fear that backing any restriction on gun ownership could hurt them in a primary.

It says something very dark about our politics, said Arthur, D-Kansas City, that they would rather be on record protecting the rights of convicted domestic abusers, rather than the rights of survivors of domestic abuse.

Red flag law

The proposals have three main parts.

They would allow courts to prohibit a person under a restraining order from having or buying a gun while the order is in effect. They would require the courts to inform the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the FBI when a person is convicted of domestic assault. And, they would make it a crime for anyone who has been convicted of domestic violence to possess or own a firearm.

Those convicted of domestic abuse in Missouri have not always been allowed to carry firearms, Hicks said, nor did legislators intend that to be the case.

When Missouri lawmakers voted to override then-Gov. Jay Nixons veto of a 2016 bill legalizing concealed carry without a permit, both Republicans and Democrats were aware that it would unintentionally make it more difficult to enforce the federal law that prevents domestic abusers from having guns, Arthur said.

That was because the legislation removed required criminal background checks and gun safety training classes the time when these offenders would be screened.

But in typical legislative fashion, the majority party wanted to push forward, and made a promise that we would return to the legislation to fix it, Arthur said.

Hicks was among the Republicans who vowed in 2016 to come back and fix it.

Its 2022 now, Hicks said. Im still sitting here trying to fix it. Im actually keeping a promise.

Its Hicks final year in the House due to term limits, and he said closing the loophole is his top priority.

In May, Arthur attempted to add an amendment that mirrors her current bill to the Second Amendment Preservation Act. State Sen. Eric Burlison, R-Battlefield, who was handling the bill on the floor, said it was one issue he believed Republicans and Democrats could come together on.

If that person has been convicted and we know that they arent responsible with their emotions, and with their actions towards people in their family, Burlison said, then having a gun in that situation, youre absolutely right, it adds to the intimidation, and it adds to lethality of the situation.

However, Sen. Bob Onder, R-Lake St. Louis, decried Arthurs amendment during the 2021 debate as a red flag law, which allows family members, law enforcement or other third parties to ask a court to temporarily remove a persons guns if theyre concerned about the individual.

Hicks, whose district area overlaps with Onders, sponsored the same language as Arthurs amendment in his House bill last session and he strongly disagreed with Onder.

I had a letter from the NRA last year stating this is not a red flag bill, Hicks said of the National Rifle Association. If it was a red flag law, they wouldve rated it. I would no longer be holding an A-plus rating from the NRA.

Onders concerns related to judges prohibiting a person from having guns during restraining-order proceedings. Arthur told Onder that these hearings were a crucial moment in protecting victims because thats when the conflicts are at their hottest and most dangerous points. Hicks said the legislation gives a judge the opportunity to be able to protect residents in these dire moments.

If youre sitting in a courtroom and youve got your spouse or significant other sitting over there, youve already gone to the end, Hicks said. You cant take any more. And I think its up to us then to help them.

Hicks said the NRA assured him that this would not fall in the same category as the type of court orders that Onder is concerned about. Ultimately, Arthurs amendment was voted down by the Senate, which went on to approve the Second Amendment Preservation Act.

Now law enforcement officers cant enforce federal law to prevent convicted domestic violence abusers whether it be a felony or misdemeanor charge from having guns. Missouri law prohibits felons from possessing guns, but Arthur noted that a lot of the crimes that are classified as domestic violence misdemeanors are still violent crimes.

In any other context, if it wasnt a domestic partnership, it would be qualified as a felony, Arthur said. I think that speaks to societys attitude about domestic violence.

Rural Missouri advocates

In southern Missouri, families often live miles apart, and that isolation factor makes addressing domestic violence challenging, said Tressa Price, executive director of the Agape House, a domestic violence shelter in Mountain View.

Some of the families that Agape serves only have one car or one phone, and theyre usually in the abusers control, she said.

Getting help is hard enough, said Price, who is a gun owner herself. But then if they have a gun, they can hold them at gunpoint, they can threaten them with that gun, [and] they can use that gun. We have seen too much of that go on down in this area with too many people murdered.

Price spoke about several cases of women who were shot and killed by their husbands or partners. A woman murdered at a McDonalds. Another who tried to run away, but her male partner captured her at the Walmart parking lot and killed her. Another shot in front of her children in her trailer home. The grief impacts the entire community because, in small towns, everyone knows these women and families well, Price said.

This is the kind of stuff we see in rural Missouri, she said. As long as they still have a firearm in their hand, theyre still free to do what they want to do. They still stalk. They still terrorize. But if theres no law against it, it cannot be prosecuted.

Just as in the Mountain View area, guns are very much part of the culture in Mississippi County, said Keene-Frye. Advocates of domestic violence tend to be able to get bipartisan support on most reforms, she said, except when it involves guns.

The typical arguments that Keene-Frye hears against this proposal is that people need their guns to provide food for their families through hunting, or that judges shouldnt be able to grant protection orders without having a full hearing.

When somebody has an order of protection granted against them, a judge has decided that someone needs protection from this individual for a reason, based on facts, she said. So I just really do not understand the controversy surrounding that.

Mississippi County has a population of about 13,000, and the Susanna Wesley Family Learning Center serves about 400 women a year, she said. They provide 1,200 to 1,800 of bed nights to victims every year at the shelter.

As a lifelong gun owner, Keene-Frye said that most responsible gun owners believe that abusers shouldnt possess guns. But her area has become increasingly ultra conservative over the last few years, she said, and its made this point more contentious.

Is the victims right to life not greater than the perpetrators right to a firearm? she said. I believe it is.

This story was originally published on the Missouri Independent.

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Missouri made it impossible for police to prevent convicted domestic abusers from having guns - KCUR

In surveying this years legislative session, Im not sure if I feel like a radical or a moderate.

After decades of our motor fuel tax eroding to inflation, last year a mild gas tax restoration was passed. Now those inclined to cut any tax in sight want to repeal it, often citing the flood of federal transportation dollars.

MoDOT says we have many years of catching up to do.

We should keep the fuel tax as is. To dream a bit, we should add modern electronic tolling to all the interstates, particularly for semitrucks .

Abortion bills have been filed, including one that would replicate Texas infamous bounty hunter provision. But you may have noticed, dear reader, that the Supreme Court is pondering a big abortion case. Missouri already has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country. Short of changing hearts and minds, or voters approving a Personhood Amendment, its hard to say what more pro-life folks can tangibly achieve for now.

Speaking of voter approved amendments, there is talk of limiting well-heeled advocacy groups from selling their packaged issues to the people. This is a tough one, to balance this legitimate process with its perceived overuse or abuse.

Which leads to the issue of our new medicinal marijuana regime, which right out of the gate was obviously too restrictive, and has lead to alarming transparency issues on how the limited number of licenses were approved or denied.

Now, recreational marijuana polls well, and there is a well-funded and organized group with an initiative petition brewing to put the issue on our November ballot. This is coming one way or the other, so our state legislature should show leadership and finally decriminalize marijuana through the legislative review process and do it the right way, right away.

No more cartels, no secretive approval process, no favoritism to deep pocketed insiders over local entrepreneurs. Maybe it can roll out in stages. Further procrastination in the Capitol could make things worse in the end.

One splinter issue has cropped up since gun rights advocates finally achieved the passage of the Second Amendment Preservation Act last year. A squad of law enforcement voices are now pooh-poohing it as if it disallows them from talking to the feds at all, which sounds exaggerated.

Deep-thinking constitutional advocate Ron Calvone who promoted this issue for nearly a decade defends it now, again, as already vetted by law enforcement, and as a Tenth Amendment states rights issue as much as a Second Amendment gun rights one. Keep the Second Amendment Protection Act, and educate the public and law enforcement about what it actually does and doesnt do.

Redistricting has come to a head, after the U.S. Census was delayed. Missouri retained eight seats in Congress, but adjusting the districts with population shifts has gotten super-partisan.

Voices from both sides of the aisle are brazenly debating for a map that favors their party. The GOP debating whether it could pull off a 7-1 or just a 6-2 map (that is, to construct areas to predict only one or two Democrat congressional victories).

Meanwhile, numerous Missouri Democrats fight tooth and nail against a 6-2 map but openly concede that a 5-3 map might be the best they could hope for these days.

What disgusting open corruption all around. Instead of unveiled gerrymandering, how about draw a fair map grouping nearby communities and let the chips fall where they may?

The proposed map actually looks pretty good on the surface: Start in central St. Louis with a second district for its populous suburbs; then have another radiating out from downtown Kansas City. Then, the Springfield area grouped with Joplin and Branson makes sense. Then a swath of northern Missouri, the southeast region and a chunk of east-central from Wentzville to the Lake. Boone Countys 4th stayed pretty similar.

Election reform gets people worked up. Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft cant point to widespread voter fraud in the Show-Me State. On the other hand, where are these phantom individuals who would supposedly be unable to score a simple photo ID to go vote?

Maybe start with security enhancements for mail-in voting, which might be here to stay; and have better protocols for county clerks to clean up voter rolls when people die or move.

To dream again, lets wish for ranked choice, aka instant runoff, election reform for local non-partisan races and party primaries. A gaggle of folks are putting in for CoMo mayor again, so one of them might win with less than a clean mandate or split the vote, causing voter stress come April.

The GOP primaries this August for U.S. Senate and Congress have crowded fields, too. This is a great common sense issue, but do we have to wait until Eric Grietens gets elected again to inspire motivation?

Steve Spellman hosts Mid-Missouri This Week on 89.5 FM KOPN at 5 p.m. every Wednesday. He writes twice monthly for the Missourian.

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Legislative session and elections ramp up, likely will create voter stress - Columbia Missourian