Google recently carried out a major update on its ranking algorithm, dubbed "Jagger" by the SEO community. Many webmasters have been left scratching their heads, wondering why their websites are no longer appearing for search terms they previously ranked well for and gained traffic from. So what can you do in the aftermath of "Jagger", and how can you safeguard yourself from future updates? First, a little bit of history. What is a Google algorithm update? Google, like all search engines, has an algorithm that is used to determine the order of their search engine results pages (SERPs). This algorithm is made up of over 100 factors used to determine the ranking of a page.

Historically, there have been a series of code-named algorithm updates that have resulted in large drops in traffic for sites, such as Florida, Gladys, and Bourbon. These updates have seen seemingly fine websites take a hammering and Jagger has been no different. So what happened? It's still too early to ascertain exactly what has happened, as the update is still in progress and will take a little longer to settle. Webmasters that are feeling the pinch have complained that they are losing business specifically due to the loss of traffic from Google rankings. So remember this – Google provides your search results for free and they don't owe you anything! Relying solely on free Google traffic to keep your business afloat is a misguided strategy at best.