If your website rankings have dropped noticeably due to a new algorithm update from Google then do not get surprised. It seems that Google’s algorithm testing is implemented only after ensuring that larger sites such as eBay, Amazon, USA.gov, and other such sites are not adversely affected during testing.
However, smaller sites that feel the brunt of an algorithm update have no other option but to sit down to analyze their website and links to find the culprit in the digital haystack that may have caused a drop in ranking or a penalty warning.
Google follows a lengthy and tedious process of collecting and analyzing website data on a continuous basis. They also collect reports on spam sites from various publishers and analyze issues related to search quality while including data from their own massive database. Google analyzers then locate sites that pose problems and decide on ways to address the issues.
Once they have decided on a fix then they need to test the algorithm on a few sites or a sample batch to decide on whether that fix will be suitable for all sites after an official launch. Testing also allows Google to understand if they have managed to improve the quality of their search results.
However, it does seem that Google ensures that none of the larger websites that dominate the World Wide Web get adversely affected when they run a test. Hence, if Google were to discover that a huge site such as eBay or any other site suffers during a test run, they may still modify the algorithm before releasing it for all sites.
So, in case your website suffers from poor rankings after an algorithm update, it may not even be a fault of your site or your strategy. Your website may just be collateral damage due to an algorithm change that ensured a rise in overall search quality for Google. You may huff and puff, but that will not affect Google in any way since they focus merely on the big picture of improving their product, which is their search engine.
Your site may also get affected when Google determines that a site linked to yours is a bad apple. In case you have submitted articles to any site that has been flagged as bad by Google’s search algorithm, then your site will unfortunately suffer the consequences with a downward push in rankings. If your website is deemed to have anything in common with a site that has been identified as promoting spam or violating Google Webmaster Guidelines then you will suffer due to the actions of another site.
Hence, you need to quickly locate bad signatures and solve the issue in order to jump back with improved rankings. It does seem that monitoring rankings and acting quickly is the only option for smaller sites rather than complaining about Google’s injustice.