To get an idea of what temperature is considered high, I want to note that during the March core update, MozCast’s temperature was 108°F-115°F. On May 7, its score was 90°F, then went up to 111°F, indicating that MozCast could detect movements.
So, when MozCast temperature is close to 100°F, it is quite high.
2. Semrush Sensor
Screenshot from Semrush.com
Semrush Sensor is a powerful tool designed to help you understand and track fluctuations in rankings.
Similar to MozCast, it monitors a fixed set of keywords and how much the search results for these keywords change by the end of each day. But it provides richer information by industries and locations.
Another highly valuable feature of the Semrush sensor is the report of winners and losers, which can help you run a quick competitive analysis to see websites benefiting or suffering from recent changes.
Winners report according to Semrush sensor
Losers report according to Semrush sensor
Its scale varies from 0 to 10. Usually, during core algorithm updates, the score is between 8 and 10. On May 7, its score was around 9.5 out of 10, which means there was an earthquake in SERPs.
3. Similarweb
Screenshot from Similarweb.com
Similarweb monitors more than 10,000 domains and keywords on a daily basis to identify ranking patterns and track volatility in Google’s desktop and mobile search results.
Here is how to read its graphs:
The numbers on the graph indicate the level of ranking fluctuations on specific dates.
A higher number means more significant changes in rankings.
Orange signals a moderate risk.
Red indicates a high risk.
Again, to give you an idea of what risk level is considered high, I want to mention that during Google’s March core update, the risk level metric was 65. On May 11, the risk level metric was 71, which is high. We can conclude that Similarweb was able to detect the anomaly observed by the SEO community.
4. Accuranker ‘Grump’ Rating
Screenshot from accuranker.com
Accuranker is another great tool for observing Google SERP volatilities.
They have a fun scoring scale:
Grumpy (0-10): Google is chilled.
Cautious (10-12): Normal activity.
Grumpy (12-15): More than usual.
Furious (15+): High fluctuations in SERP.
One advantage over others is that they let you go back as far as you want, providing historical data back to 2016, and the data is updated in real-time.
In contrast to several other sensors, it provides details on how Accuranker calculates its rating:
It monitors a set of 30,000 randomly selected keywords.
It splits the keyword selection set between mobile and desktop searches (15,000 each).
For each keyword, it analyzes the top 100 search results.
The final index number for the keyword is the total sum of the position differences for each keyword divided by the number of results (typically 100).
A higher index number means more significant fluctuations in the rankings. For example, during the core update, it is in the order of ~14, which is more than usual. On May 7-9, the tool scored “Google is chilled” and ‘Cautious’ with a score of ~9.
5. Advanced Web Rankings Google Algorithm Changes
Screenshot from advancedwebranking.com
Advanced Web Rankings monitors the ranking changes of approximately 400,000 desktop keywords and 200,000 mobile keywords across various countries.
You can segment the data countries, devices, and industries, and look up historical data by going back as much as you want by selecting a custom date period.
The tool calculates the Volatility (KPI), which has the following areas:
Low Volatility: Indicates insignificant changes.
Medium Volatility: Represents moderate changes in SERPs, which could be due to minor algorithm updates or other factors.
High Volatility: This means high fluctuations in SERP often correlated with major Google algorithm updates.
During the March core update, it detected high volatility with a score of 7.3 and medium volatility with a score of 4-5 on May 7-9.
6. CognitiveSEO Signals
Screenshot from cognitiveseo.com
CognitiveSEO Signals monitors over 170,000 keywords. These keywords are randomly selected to track ranking fluctuations in desktop, mobile, and local search results.
Again, it doesn’t disclose how it calculates the volatility score, but it has a nice chart showing days with high fluctuations in red.
During the recent March core update and on May 7-9, it detected high volatility, with scores of 70 and 75, respectively.
7. Algoroo
Screenshot from algoroo.com
Algoroo is another tool to track Google’s algorithm updates, which is built and maintained by Dejan.
It doesn’t disclose how tracking works. What we know is that it tracks selected keywords and calculates their ranking movements.
Reading data is really simple; when bars are in red, it means high fluctuations.
During the recent March core update, medium volatility was detected, and nothing unusual but normal activity on May 7-9.
What To Do After An Algorithm Update
There are six things you should always remember when algorithm updates (whether confirmed or unconfirmed) negatively impact your website:
Don’t jump and perform sitewide changes in panic mode.
Check the website’s technical setup to ensure that your traffic didn’t drop due to the server being down or your developer accidentally blocking it via robots.txt or noindexing mistakenly.
Be patient and collect data.
Observe how your competitors are affected by the update to find any patterns.
Read credible sources (like Search Engine Journal) to gain insights and see what the SEO experts have to say.
Make adjustments to your SEO strategy and tactics as necessary.
It’s also important to remember that Google’s algorithms are constantly changing.
What impacts your rankings today could change in a few days, a week, or a month.
For more in-depth information, check out our guides:
Featured Image: salarko/Shutterstock