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Google has confirmed core algorithm update named “Medic update” is out and rolling since August 1 and many sites and businesses are hit by it. Well, hit won’t be the correct word here, we would say affected by it. A week after the big Google algorithm update, we find that health and medical sites are affected most by this update. Many sites are negatively impacted by this update. Google says that thre is “NO FIX” of it. You can’t do much to improve the rankings of page negatively impacted by this update but the best bet is that keep your content in the best shape. Pay attention to the quality of the content and make sure the content is meaningful and up-to-date.

Let’s admit it. It’s a core update but why sites related to health and fitness are affected most by it? Well, Google is silent over this issue, as they always have been. Our research finds out that YMYL (Your money your life) sites are also quite affected by this update. It’s a global and broad update and nearly each and every site is affected by it but as we said earlier, the focus is on the medic sites. There are many sites that are affected but you need not worry, Google says they have done nothing to de-rank any site or page, the only thing that has happened is that some sites which were ranked low previously are not getting the attention after this update.

Focus on better content, that’s how you need to face this update. If you really want to fix the things that got into bad shape after this algorithm update from Google then focus on quality. People really do not put much focus on quality and their primary attention is quantity. Please don’t follow this approach. That’s what Google has been saying consistently. It’s nice to focus on keywords and ranking but it’s better you focus on fullness of the content. Richness of the content – that’s what you need to focus on after this so-called Medic update. So how do we know that this update is primarily focused on health and medical related sites? We found it out after running tests and using tools that tell us what all is affected. Google is actually silent on it but we are pretty sure about it.

Google has been consistently saying that this kind of update they do several times a year and it’s the part and parcel of regular algorithm update practice at Google. Broad core algorithm update – that’s what Google has been saying about this update. Some content may rise while some may fall, but that’s the way it is. Google admits clearly that some pages or sites were under-rewarded previously and now they will get what they deserve after this update. Please note that this update will take place irrespective of region or language so if you are thinking that this update will not affect you, you need to think again. Danny Sullivan from Google has been interacting with the people and has been confirming about the effects of this update.

This update is a little bit of mystery as Google is not updating us on what will be really affected by this update. Previous Google updates such as Penguin and Panda, Google was pretty clear about the aftereffects and the company shared them well with the Internet community. This time they are not making it public, but we after the research and feedback are pretty sure that YMYL and health business will be affected. Actually, to be frank, affect is throughout but what we are emphasizing here is on the primary factor. The update is now fully rolled out and people at some places are finding an increase or decrease in site traffic, but that’s normal.

Google Medic Update

YMYL sites are those sites that primarily focus on life events and money. These sites are affected more and in case you are the owner of these kinds of sites then you need to wait and watch. We have data from RankRanger, Sistrix, and SEMRush about the effects of this update and whatever we are mentioning here is based upon the facts. Apart from health and fitness-related sites, finance sites are also affected. There will be a difference of few percentage points but in any case, it’s acceptable then you need not worry.