The end of July marked an update by Google to hit all the accuracy and relevance pertaining to local search results. The update was not directly hit by Google as an algorithm change, but rather as a blog through Search Engine Land, the most popular SEO blog.
Every time there is an update, the SEO community automatically goes into an upheaval. The Pigeon Update has been one such recent update. The update is meant to hit any business that has a eCommerce site. This will greatly change Google’s traditional web search results along with their Google Maps Results.
How do I know if my business has been affected?
The first step to any algorithm update is to find out if the update at all has any relevance to my website. While your site might not be affected at all; for some sites this might be a disaster, some might actually benefit from it. eCommerce sites are expected not to be hit by these updates unless they have a physical store located.
Regular monitoring of web analytics and the Search Queries along with the reports of top pages in Google Webmaster Tools after July 24, 2014 will essentially let you know of the impacts on the search queries and top pages results.
Any sudden increase or decrease in your site’s performance, which is sudden as well as sharp on the day of launch compiled by a new level of performance is the direct result of the hit of a new algorithm. If your analytics are not reflecting any such pattern, Pigeon has not had its impact on you. You are required to make a note on this update, as a contributing factor to algorithm changes in the future.
These rankings can be further monitored in Webmaster Tools, with the use of search queries or top page reports in monitoring Google Rankings. This will help you determine changes in ranking positions, along with the rankings of the pages and keywords differently.
Before pigeon, there was a chance of sending, Pizza Hut and Dominos in the top ranking lists of Pizza IN Boise. After Pigeon however, the search results will be more result oriented, with the local listings featured prominently on top. Verified Pizza restaurants that will have their featuring in Google’s own social network, Google + will find better featuring. The review, menu and photography added to the Google+ ids will have better results.
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