Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not rocket science. However, if you are a webmaster you will need to keep yourself abreast with the underlying changes which play a crucial role in the ranking of the site. Studies have shown that with each update of Google’s algorithm, Google tries to address the issues which it deems are affecting the search results negatively in one way or another.
One of the important changes that Google made in 2016 was Possum. It is regarded to be the biggest change that Google has made for local SEO.
What Is Possum Update?
The SEO community might be wondering why the latest update has been named ‘Possum’. Well, the term was coined by Phil Rozek who pointed out that the name fits very well for the business owners who thinks their business listings in Google My Listing is gone, but it’s not true.
It was seen that most of the websites which ranked well saw a sudden dip in their rankings. On the other hand, some sites which didn’t ranked well saw an improvement in their rankings. The update resulted in business listings in getting disappeared from localized search results. Actually, the listings got hidden by filters and it had a huge impact on the local SEO.
Reason of the Update
The basic logic behind this update is to expand the local results and to put an end to the spammy processes.
In 2017, in the event that you are purposely including your keywords and attempting to get a higher rank for your site, then it will be considered as a 'spam'. Well, these practices in local searches faced an unfriendly impact by Possum.
Google is requesting the marketers to comprehend the customer's behavior for local searches and on how Google local search functions. This will help the marketers to diminish spammy practices and perform SEO more successfully.
Before this update, businesses outside the city limits often found it difficult to rank well; however, with this update businesses would have a good chance to rank well. Businesses close to the city but not within the city limit used to suffer because they were not convenient for the searched even being relevant to their needs, but with the update, the playing field between businesses within city limits and others outside the city gets leveled.
Ways to Recover From the Update
If you find out that your site has been affected by the Possum update, don’t panic. There are ways with which you can easily recover from it. Here are some tips that can help your site to recover from it. They are:
· You will need to mention the city name while providing the location.
· You must give value to the location more than the search term.
· Try to link with a local business site.
· Focus on the changes that are made in your keywords.
Now, if you get to know that your site has been adversely affected by the update, try to recover it from the above tips. Furthermore, try to comply with what Google tells you to do.