E954: We may be in the middle of another Google algorithm update - and for some sites, the impact has been severe.
From February 5th to February 7th, one of my top-of-funnel sites lost 50% of its organic traffic. Then, just a few days later, traffic rebounded completely. At the same time, my bottom-of-funnel pages remained stable.
In this episode, I break down what’s happening, what the SEO community is reporting, and why certain types of sites are getting hit harder than others.
We cover: - The recent spike in Google search ranking volatility - Reports from the SEO community and data from tracking tools - How Google has not confirmed this update - The connection (and non-connection) to the February 2026 Google Discover Core update - Why informational and top-of-funnel content appears to be more volatile - Why bottom-of-funnel SEO pages are remaining stable - The risks of depending on Google Discover and pure ad revenue - A practical strategy to shift from traffic-focused SEO to conversion-focused SEO
I also share: - Real examples of volatility from WebmasterWorld and industry chatter - My experience recovering from a 50% traffic drop - How to identify overlooked purchase-intent keywords - How to use competitor rankings to uncover under-optimized bottom-of-funnel opportunities - Why “best X for Y” keywords are not the real opportunity - How to create products, tools, or affiliate plays that reduce algorithm risk
If your strategy relies heavily on informational traffic, news content, or ad monetization, this episode will help you rethink your keyword targeting.
The core takeaway: volatility tends to hit broad, informational queries much harder than narrowly targeted purchase-intent queries. There are still large gaps in Google’s results for specific bottom-of-funnel searches - and those gaps are where stability and revenue are being built.
💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/
00:00 Introduction to the Google Algorithm Update 00:33 SEO Community Reactions and Insights 01:50 Personal Experiences and Observations 03:41 Strategies for Navigating Algorithm Changes 05:54 Keyword Targeting Recommendations 07:59 Creating and Selling Products 09:36 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
