Woman in black tank top on computer analyzing why google rankings dropped.

SEO Damage Control: What to Do When Google Updates Tank Your Rankings

Written on October 9, 2025. Posted in SEO, Tech, Tutorials, Uncategorized, Web Design.

Google ranking dropped dramatically? You’re not alone. Every few months, Google rolls out an algorithm update that can make or break your website’s visibility overnight. One day you’re ranking first for your target keywords, the next you’re buried on page four and down 70% of your organic traffic.

Before you panic-rewrite every headline or toss out your SEO strategy, take a breath. Google core updates aren’t the end of the world. Most of the time, your rankings will start to balance out over a few months. But if you did see a significant drop during the last core update in July, it might be a sign that you need to alter your strategy or implement some website maintenance.

Step 1: Don’t Freak Out

When you see your Google rankings dropped, the worst thing you can do is make knee-jerk changes. Many site owners immediately start swapping keywords, rewriting meta descriptions or redesigning pages, but that can actually cause more harm than good.

Algorithm updates take time to settle. Google may be testing new ranking signals, adjusting spam filters or refining how it interprets content quality. Unless you’re positive you know why your Google rankings took a turn for the worst, it’s best to give it a few weeks before taking major action.

In the meantime, monitor your analytics closely, pay attention to which pages and keywords took the biggest hits and start looking into potential pitfalls in the backend of your website.

Step 2: Identify the Google Update Type

Before you start fixing anything, you need to know what actually changed. Google rolls out multiple algorithm updates every year, and not all of them target the same thing. Some focus on cleaning up spam, others reward helpful content or a better user experience. Understanding which update made your rankings drop is the first step in planning your comeback.

Core Updates

Google’s core updates are broad updates to the search algorithm — aka how it interprets and ranks content. There have already been two core updates in 2025 (March & June), both of which have caused rather volatile ranking swings. While these updates don’t “penalize” you directly, Google rebalances which pages include the most current, relevant and high-quality content.

Helpful Content Updates

The Helpful Content Update was introduced in 2022 to reward websites that put readers first and discourage content created purely for boosting SEO. The goal is simple: provide real value. If your blogs are full of fluff or you’re rewording what’s already on the internet, Google won’t prioritize your content.

At the end of the day, there’s nothing wrong with writing blogs to boost your SEO rankings, so long as they are informative. But if you’re writing blogs that lack clarity and true value, don’t expect to make it to page one of the SERPs.

Note: All core updates now focus on prioritizing helpful content.

Spam Updates

Spam updates focus on cracking down on manipulative or dishonest SEO tactics. Things like hidden text, keyword stuffing, cloaking, sketchy link schemes or pages can all trigger ranking losses. The most recent Spam update was in August 2025 and wrapped up Sept. 22, shaking up search results for sites across the board.

Review-Type Updates

Review-type updates sharpen how Google evaluates reviews, product or service comparisons, and firsthand experience. Google favors content that shows human insight, verifiable evidence and unique opinions. While there hasn’t been a “Review Update” in 2025, the principles of experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) are now deeply embedded in Google’s core algorithm. This is true for both your website and your Google Business Profile.

User Experience (UX)

Google also measures how people interact with your site, also known as their page experience. Things like page speed, image size, mobile responsiveness, layout stability and accessibility all have a significant impact on your overall SEO performance. If your site is slow, hard to navigate or difficult to read, Google will treat it as such, regardless of the quality of your writing.

Step 3: Audit Your Content Quality

By now, it should be clear that Google’s algorithms are obsessed with helpful, human-focused content. If your Google ranking dropped, here are some things you can take a look at:

Does this page answer the user’s question in depth?
Are there high-quality links to other pages on my website that will provide more insight into the user’s questions?
Are there high-quality links to reputable sources outside of my business?
Does this page demonstrate real experience or authority on the topic?
Do the titles and headers have a clear hierarchy?
Am I evenly distributing keywords throughout the text in a way that is organic and human?
Do my images have clear alt text for accessibility?
Are my images saved with relevant file names?
Are the colors on my website accessible (i.e. high contrast), and is the font easy to read?
Does my content align with my values and emotional branding?

If you answered no to any of these, it’s time to run a thorough update on your existing content. Clean up any old SEO tricks like hidden text, irrelevant backlinks or stuffing keywords in every paragraph and header. Those tactics might’ve worked in 2010, but today they’ll tank your rankings.

Pro Tip: Look at the keywords you lost and figure out which ones actually matter. While it can be difficult to see, you often lose a large number of keywords that are irrelevant to your brand. Focus on winning back keywords that bring traffic and make peace with losing the rest.

Step 4: Strengthen Your Content Strategy

Modern SEO isn’t about chasing one-off keywords. If you want to win big, you have to commit to the long game. The brands ranking at the top of search engines are the ones building topic authority. The more expertise and depth you can demonstrate around a subject, the more likely you are to start ranking on Google.

If your Google rankings dropped, focus on:

Creating pillar topics that relate to your brand and writing in-depth articles about each one.
Writing supporting blogs that answer specific sub-topics related to your content pillars.
Always linking between your blogs and core website pages to create a network of relevance.
Sharing your personal experience, feelings and perspective on topics you write about.
Sparking conversations and encouraging user engagement on your platform.
Updating old blogs with newer, more relevant content.

This web of information signals to Google that your site is a credible source. Think about it this way: if someone needs to leave your website to get clarity on their original search inquiry, your content doesn’t deserve to be in the top 10.

Step 5: Consider How You Use AI

With AI at the forefront of technology, companies are relying on AI now more than ever. And while AI can be an excellent tool for business owners, it can also be detrimental to your success depending on how you’re using it.

AI models pull from the same pool of data as everyone else, which means the phrasing, structure and ideas it spits out are often eerily similar to thousands of websites. And I hate to break it to you, but when you copy, paste or lightly edit AI-generated content, Google and your readers can tell.

There are a lot of things AI can do, but it can never replicate human experience, nuance or opinion. We strongly believe that human-written content is best. But if you do rely on AI, make sure you’re adding your own insights and aligning everything with your brand’s voice.

Bottom line: Google doesn’t really care who writes your content, but it does care about the overall quality.

Step 6: Collect and Analyze Data

The best way to determine which remedies (if any) you need to employ after your google rankings dropped is to look at the numbers. Use Google Search Console, Google Analytics and your preferred SEO tracking tools (we love Ahrefs) to pinpoint precisely where performance changed and why.

Some key data points to consider are:

Which pages or keywords lost the most visibility
Whether impressions or clicks dropped first
How your click-through rate (CTR) changed after the update
Which countries, devices or query types were most affected
How your site ranks for page speed and accessibility

One thing to keep in mind here is that a drop in impressions isn’t always bad. Google recently started filtering out bot and non-human traffic, so those lower numbers can actually reflect more accurate data.

What matters most is whether real users are still clicking, engaging and converting. And remember, SEO is an ecosystem. No single metric tells the full story. Rankings, clicks, engagement and domain authority all work together over time to show you the bigger picture.

Step 7: Buckle Up for the Long Haul

At the end of the day, fixing your SEO rankings after a drop comes down to patience, consistency and a little bit of faith in the process. Google’s updates aren’t designed to punish you. Nor does a drop in rankings mean you were doing something “wrong.” The end goal is simply to raise the bar for what “high-quality” content looks like online.

So before you panic or point fingers, zoom out and look at the big picture. A dip in your rankings doesn’t mean your marketing team has been creating bad content, or your SEO strategy needs to be thrown in the trash — it’s all part of the ebb and flow of SEO.

Need help bouncing back after a core update? CannaSite can help! Check out our SEO packages and send us a message. We’d love to chat!