Less than a month ago, we published an article about the so-called medic update , last year's update to Google's search engine algorithms, which primarily affected websites related to broadly defined healthcare topics. In the article, we focused on illustrating the current situation after subsequent so-called adjustments and shared our conclusions on how the algorithm works and what it takes into account.
In this article, we presented examples of several websites most impacted by the algorithm. These are domains we selected based on analysis of the largest market players, but this approach doesn't fully reflect the situation in the SERPs. Therefore, we enlisted the help of the Senuto team, who prepared very detailed data for all domains in the "Fit & Health" category.
But from the beginning
Senuto is a tool we enjoy using in our daily work with our clients. It allows us to monitor the websites we manage and see what's happening on competing websites. There are so many uses for this tool, describing them all would require a series of articles.
What's most interesting to us is that Senuto queries Google for almost all popular search queries, allowing it to fully monitor website activity in Poland. This data will help us analyze the situation across the healthcare industry today.
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March correction called "Florida 2"
In early March of this year, Google officially announced another Medic Update. In the West, the algorithm affected so many websites that the update was dubbed "Florida 2" by the industry. For those who don't remember, the first update, called "Florida," was announced in Florida in 2003 and was the first significant change to Google's search engine.
If we look at the table below, we can see that the biggest losers from this update are large websites belonging to major media groups. These include przewodnikzdrowie.pl, zdrowie.tvn.pl, zdrowie.gazeta.pl, and zdrowie.wp.pl. Surprisingly, the highly reputable specialist website mp.pl was among the affected domains. Also surprising are the presence of websites like Fabryka Siły and the Amazon forum, which boast large communities of active users.
When it comes to websites that saw a boost after the March update, the pharmacy apteline.pl is worth noting. It's one of many pharmacies that have significantly increased their visibility this year. Other sites that have seen significant growth include specialist sites such as medicover.pl, medme.pl, and onkonet.pl. Several sites belonging to large media groups also appeared on the list, but only temporarily, as the June correction proved much less kind to them.
What did the June correction bring us?
Some websites that saw growth in March are certainly not satisfied with the results of the June adjustment to the medyk website. These include portal.abczdrowie.pl and zdrowie.pap.pl. Both websites grew significantly in March, but in June, this trend reversed, and their visibility declined significantly. It's worth noting that many websites lost some visibility after both adjustments.
Looking through the list of sites that have fallen, we can see that a large portion of them were created in the so-called "classic way," meaning by creating a lot of content and linking "from wherever possible." This strategy was very effective a year ago, but we don't recommend this approach to anyone now.
If we look at the list of sites that gained traction in June, we'll notice a few comebacks. One such site is Fabryka Siły, whose March decline was most likely a mistake. Fabryka Siły is a highly popular site with a large group of regular users. Therefore, its March decline came as a surprise to us.
In June, online pharmacies such as nowafarmacja.pl and allecco.pl saw further growth. Services like onkonet.pl and medme.pl, in turn, grew during both corrections. It's also worth noting the biggest winner: mp.pl, which is among the most trusted and reputable services in the industry.
What do we know after the last two corrections?
While earlier versions of the so-called "medicine" might have seemed chaotic and unpredictable, the two latest revisions from March and June allow us to draw more meaningful conclusions. Analyzing the link profiles of individual sites, we see that sites with a large number of industry-specific links are rising. However, if a site had a majority of non-topic links, its visibility decreased significantly.
Domain authority is becoming increasingly important within the industry itself. This primarily refers to brand queries, good usability, and the value a given website provides to its users. Websites with low-quality content written by copywriters unfamiliar with the topic have already declined or will decline with future revisions.
Most interestingly, Google did something we didn't expect. A year ago, we wouldn't have believed an update would hit large websites belonging to large media groups so hard. Such websites have previously relied on a large number of links from websites across their media groups. This link acquisition strategy is now less effective, and the websites themselves should consider more creative ways to acquire thematic links.
We don't know what the next few months will bring, but another adjustment to the medic should be coming soon. It's worth keeping an eye on developments in the medical industry, as this algorithm is likely still being tested and refined. Once it performs well enough to better assess the value of the entire service, it will likely be rolled out across all other industries.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- using the Senuto tool in the analysis and monitoring of website visibility,
- Google's algorithm update known as "Florida 2" and its consequences,
- the impact of the June Google algorithm update on website positioning,
- changes in the evaluation of websites by the Google algorithm, with particular emphasis on the quality of the link profile, industry authority and substantive value of the content.
